


This Is Falling

by onlywordsnow



Series: Winning Is The Hard Part [1]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Basketball, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Angst, Basketball, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, One Tree Hill AU, Young Love, oth au, teenage dreams
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2020-01-16 03:18:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 124,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18512812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlywordsnow/pseuds/onlywordsnow
Summary: Nicole Haught is Purgatory High's basketball star.  She's really going places.  At least, she would be if she weren't letting her grades slip to get her parents’ attention.  It seems like nothing she does gets the attention of her absent parents.  That is, until she gets a tutor who completely changes her life.  (One Tree Hill adjacent AU)





	1. Shot Clock

**Author's Note:**

> I have been working on this since October and finally feel that I am at a comfortable enough spot in writing as well as attachment to this fic that I will keep updating it. I am really into this idea. Just keep in mind, this is more about their journey into adulthood than it is about them getting together. I had a really, really big plan for this fic (this series) that works pretty closely to a certain couple in One Tree Hill. I'm really hoping that you, the reader, enjoys this as much as I have enjoyed it. I truly appreciate any feedback you may have, especially since I am only halfway through writing this thing and I've been working on it for 6 months. Feels like I'm in this one for the long haul. Thank you for reading.

_December._

 

 

 

Nicole Haught is 6 months away from graduating from Purgatory High School then she can be done with this lame as fuck town forever. 

She’s had high school fairly easy, easier than most due to her hippie, negligent parents giving her all of the breathing room she could want.  Except for where her parents ride her ass about basketball.  She’s loved the game since she could pick the ball up, that much she knows, but sometimes her parents take the fun out of it. 

She’s popular at school, being the star athlete.  The boys’ basketball team sucks but, thanks to her, the girls team has been kicking ass for a few years.  Her popularity has landed her a free pass but her senior year has become more difficult, with her parents spending every night except for game nights away, and her teachers being harder on her using the excuse of college. 

She needs a break from all of this stress sometimes.

That’s why she’s standing behind the church she’s never gone into with a cigarette between her lips as she listens to Wynonna Earp ramble.  Wynonna graduated last year but that doesn’t stop her from meeting Wynonna at lunch, when she manages to wake up before lunch that is.  Usually, Nicole gets stuck sitting in the cafeteria with the rest of her team.  Which, isn’t the worst because they are enjoyable most of the time, especially because they view her as the ring leader, but she really gets tired of the bullshit appearances she has to keep up.  That’s why she appreciates this time with Wynonna, because she doesn’t ask a lot of personal questions. 

“You gotta quit smoking, Superstar,” Wynonna finally says, which Nicole knows Wynonna only goes to games because of her little sister, “I’ve seen you slowing down out there.  Or do you not care about the game anymore?”

“Of course I do,” Nicole replies, voice coming out more defensive than she means, “But my grades are slipping anyway.  They’re making me meet with a tutor after practice.”

“My sister,” Wynonna says. 

Nicole groans.  She doesn’t know why she’s surprised.  Waverly is the smartest girl in their class and a big goodie two shoes.  Nicole’s surprised she even has the time to become cheerleader – correction, head cheerleader. 

Shae, Nicole’s girlfriend at the time, had been bitter about the decision.  She kept telling Nicole it would look better to colleges, specifically to elite universities she was trying to get into like Yale or Harvard or Stanford.  Nicole had not intended to go to any of those colleges because the basketball teams suck.  Even though that would insure she get ample playing time, she is not interested in that stuck up mentality of an elite university.  Besides, she is not good at anything other than basketball so she cares more about athletic opportunity. 

Needless to say, her and Shae have been on and off ever since. 

Currently, they were off. 

“She know you meet me behind the church during lunch?” Nicole asks.

“If she knew I smoked she would suffocate me in my sleep,” Wynonna says, “Probably.” 

“She seems lovely,” Nicole mutters.  Wynonna makes a few unintelligible noises in response that Nicole can only assume means that she agrees with the sarcasm.  She sighs, stabbing out the lit end of the cigarette against the brick building behind her.  Pushing off of it, she says, “Ok, I better get going.” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Wynonna grumbles, “Good luck with your study date.  She’s a real hard ass.” 

“Can’t wait,” Nicole equally grumbles. 

She makes her way back to her car, a blue Land Rover she really didn’t want, giving a flippant wave to Wynonna over her shoulder.  She wouldn’t exactly call Wynonna her friend, but they’ve spent enough time together back behind the church that she would guess Wynonna would call her if she ever needed bailing out of jail.  Wynonna has told her enough about Waverly’s wrath that she’s pretty positive that Wynonna would want to avoid that.

Nicole manages to make it back in time for her first class after lunch and powers through the rest of her day until the final bell.  Practice is the same as always.  The rest of her teammates go easier on themselves than she goes on herself but they are still solid.  Mondays are always garbage for endurance compared to the other days of the week.  She thinks she’s the only who actually keeps working out on the weekendsShe complains a little to her teammates about their first game coming up, only 4 days away, and how they have to be able to run for an hour.  She’s the only one on her team that is a senior this year so she’s the only who is staking everything on this season.  It’s the main reason she even agreed to meet with a tutor. 

Practice runs long, but because she works hard she decides she absolutely needs to take a shower.

She’s checking her watch and noticing that she’s 45 minutes late in meeting Waverly, which she’s sure is not going to go over well.  For a moment, she considers ditching the tutoring session all together.  And she would, she really fucking would, but she really has to improve her grades or else she won’t be able to get a basketball scholarship.  The guidance counselor told her so 2 weeks ago.

She huffs as she walks down the abandoned hallway, the sounds of her snow boots echoing off of the metal lockers.  Her footsteps sound clunky as she approaches the lame library that she’s sure Waverly spends all of her free time.  It really chills her.

As soon as she reaches the doorway, she stops to look around for Waverly.  Eyes sweeping the room, she notices that it’s mostly empty save for a few nerds scattered at different tables with stacks of books on them.  One of those nerds was Waverly, sitting with a book open and a notebook flat on the tabletop, pencil bouncing off of the paper.

 _Might as well get this over with_ , Nicole thinks.

Pushing into the library, the smell of something foul attacking her sinus’, she approaches Waverly with the knowledge that she is probably about to get bitched out. 

“Waverly Earp,” she says, voice deeper and louder than normal.  Breaking Waverly’s attention does not serve her well.  Waverly’s sharp gaze, harrowing and narrowing brown eyes, cuts deep into her.  She braces herself for the imminent verbal lashing she’s surely about to receive.  “Hi.”

“Hi?”  Waverly says, eyebrows furrowing deep as her jaw flexes.  It’s…sexier than Nicole had expected it would be.  Now that she’s thinking about it, she does find an angry woman incredibly sexy.  _Oh, god_ , she thinks, _please don’t get turned on_.  Waverly looks at her phone screen and growls deep into the back of her throat.  “You’re forty-five minutes late and all you can say is hi?!”

She straightens her back, wet hair curling around her chin, and smirks.  She says, “Well, I could give you my reason, but I didn’t think you’d want to hear it.  I spared you.”

Waverly stares at her with that sexy, angry face and Nicole can’t help but challenge her back.  They’ve both entered into this staring contest without an end in sight.  Nicole sees Waverly’s lips twitch out of the bottom of her eye line and she immediately folds, gaze dropping down to Waverly’s mouth.  Honestly, if someone had told her this morning that right now she would think of Waverly as the hottest thing on two legs, she would have called them delusional. 

“Look, practice ran later than expected and I really didn’t think you’d want to put up with the smell,” Nicole replies, “So, I’m sorry that I’m late but it was in your best interest.”

“That’s,” Waverly starts, gaze dropping to her book, the voice that follows dropping as well, “Actually thoughtful.” 

“I’m not a complete asshole,” Nicole says, laugh caught in her throat. 

She’s very aware of the reputation she has.  The biggest jerk, biggest jock, biggest blowhard in school.  It really isn’t her fault that the girls’ basketball team is the best sports team of the entire school, but she really works her ass off to make it that way.  She just works harder and everyone knows it. 

She pulls the chair across from Waverly out and sets her backpack on the floor.  As she leans back in the chair, she watches Waverly intently, waiting for her to say something by means of this tutoring gig.  Waverly definitely has way more experience with this sort of thing than Nicole does. 

Waverly closes her book and pushes it aside, stacking her notebook atop it; she has another notebook that she opens to a blank page, pen poised and ready to write. 

“What subject are you needing help in?”  Waverly asks, ready to write down Nicole’s answer. 

“All of them,” Nicole says.  She already knows that’s an audacious request, but she really is having trouble in almost all of her core classes.  She squirms a little when Waverly casts her a sideways glance, annoyance clearly all over her face.  She leans forward, resting her elbows on the table.  “I know, I suck, but I really need your help, Waverly.” 

“I don’t think I can do it,” Waverly says in response.  Nicole entwines her fingers together.  Sucking in a deep breath as she presses her tongue against her bottom lip, she’s about to ask Waverly why she can’t do it when she continues and promptly cuts Nicole’s thought process off.  “You’re asking me to help you in all of your classes.  We’re practically on the same schedule and I know the season is about to start.  There’s no way that you can catch up.  And there’s no way I can dedicate the amount of time you need to your studies while still dedicating time to mine.  My plate’s just too full.” 

A headache begins to form at her temples, the stress at the idea that she isn’t going to make it out of the school year alive.  She lifts a hand to her temple and squeezes her eyes shut tightly, trying to ward off the stress before it actually settles.  She expels a breath, moving her hand from her temple to cover Waverly’s. 

 _Bold move, Haught,_ she thinks.

“Waverly, you are the smartest person I know,” Nicole replies, putting on her best pleading voice, “It has to be you.” 

“Nicole,” Waverly says, voice slightly patronizing. 

“I need this,” Nicole replies, voice steadier this time, “I need you.” 

“It won’t work,” Waverly says decisively.  She rips her hand out from beneath Nicole’s and Nicole feels that rejection fully.  Honestly, she is not expecting this rejection to sting so fully but, then again, she has always been a sucker for a pretty girl.  “I’m sorry, Nicole, I just don’t have the time.” 

Despite the way she’s leaving Nicole high and dry, Waverly smiles. 

She smiles so broadly that Nicole’s rejection feels instantly replaced with hope. 

She can only watch on in shock as Waverly begins to pack up all of her stuff, shoving books and notebooks into her backpack.  Not being able to do anything other than watch on, Nicole leans back in her seat wondering what exactly she could say to make Waverly stop running away.  Maybe she could plead that helping her would be the best of deeds that anyone could make.  No, that wouldn’t be believable.  Not with Wynonna for a sister. 

Waverly stands up and grabs her backpack by the strap. 

“What if,” Nicole says quickly.  Her thought hangs in the air as she tries to come up with something else to add to that.  Something convincing, she hopes.  Waverly looks at her expectantly.  She swallows thickly, eyes focusing on Waverly’s pen left on the table.  “I pay you.  I could compensate you generously.” 

“I want to help you, Nicole,” Waverly says, sounding defeated, “I really do, with or without the money, but what you’re asking for is a lot.” 

Nicole is out of arguments to make.  While she’s still contemplating what to say, Waverly offers her a sad smile.  Before she knows it, Waverly turns on her heel and Nicole is left watching her go. 

 

 

 

 

Nicole grasps the pen Waverly left on the table tightly in her hand.  She double checks her watch for the time, relieved to see that she’s right on schedule.  The halls are still empty and the sun is barely beginning to shine outside.

A lone figure stands off to the side, locker door open as they dig through.  Nicole can’t help but take in the sight before, a luxury she has afforded herself from time to time but never quite admitted to.  Those legs are well-defined and Nicole nearly trips as she stares at them.

She tries to steady her footsteps to better sneak up on Waverly, knowing that a surprise attack is her best chance.

She succeeds at being stealth and leans against the lockers as quietly as possible.  She lies in wait for Waverly to close her locker door.  Then she’ll grace Waverly with such a beautiful face so early in the morning.  She smiles wide in preparation, but the time passes for so long that her cheeks start to hurt.

Finally, Waverly closes her locker door.  The sound echoes down the hollow hallway.  The sound of metal is quickly drowned out by a scream erupting.  Nicole jumps, smile completely falling.

“You, uh,” Nicole starts, lifting the pen up in the space between them, “You left your pen.”

“I have others,” Waverly deadpans.

“Oh,” Nicole says, looking at the pen and away from Waverly, “So, it’s not a special pen?”

Waverly huffs angrily, like she’s trying to blow the house around Nicole down.  Her eyes narrow down on Nicole, and she snatches the pen from Nicole’s hand.  She says, “I talked to your teachers.”

“You talked to my teachers?!”  Nicole says, dropping her hands to her sides.  She buries her hands in her pockets, letting the surprise of Waverly consulting her teachers this early in the morning run through her.  For someone who hates her, Waverly really does go above and beyond.

“You’re behind in all of your assignments.  You have C’s in all of your classes except for history, which you have a D!”  She exclaims, voice echoing down the hall.  Nicole quickly drops her chin, looking away from Waverly.  She sees a sliver of skin between Waverly’s shirt and pants, wondering how she could wear a crop top in winter.  Waverly sighs, saying, “The only way for you to keep from failing is to get B’s in all of your midterms...in two weeks.”

“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that,” Nicole says, sliding her bag off of her shoulder.  She unzips it and starts digging through it.  “We can meet a few nights a week.  When we have away games we can sit together and study.  And, as a sign of good faith, I brought my homework for you to look over.”

Nicole lifts some papers in the space between her and Waverly, hoping to prove her point.

“You did homework?” Waverly asks, shock written all over her face.  She takes the papers from Nicole’s grasp and starts looking over them.  Nicole watches her face carefully as Waverly’s eyes scan the sheets.

“All of it I could figure out,” Nicole admits, voice soft and quiet.

“God,” Waverly mutters, a small laugh escaping her, “You’re hopeless.”

“I’m trying here,” Nicole argues.  She reaches into her pocket for her wallet.  She adds, “I’m going to pay you.”

“Nicole,” Waverly protests, voice sounding distant.

“This is all I have on me,” Nicole says, taking all of the cash out of her wallet.  She shoves it into Waverly’s hands and takes her homework back.  She worries that it isn’t enough.  Panic rising, she says, “But I’ll go to the ATM after school to get you more.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says, quickly counting it; she looks completely disgusted, “This is two hundred and fifty dollars!”

“Come to my house tomorrow night and I’ll have another two hundred and fifty for you,” Nicole says, eyes begging Waverly with everything she has inside of her, “Is that enough for this week?”

Nicole shoves everything back into her bag and zips it up, avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah,” Waverly says breathless, “Tomorrow night.  Seven?”

“Better make it eight,” Nicole says with a wink.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she takes off down the hallway before Waverly can change her mind.

 

 

 

 

Nicole’s feeling a bit surer of herself.  

All she has to do now is study.

Except…

She has nothing to study.  She doesn’t pay attention in class and she certainly doesn’t take notes.  Maybe if she gave Waverly a little bit of extra cash she could borrow her notes.  And then have Waverly explain them to her.  

For the first time all semester she isn’t feeling like she’s going to fail her senior year and never get a basketball scholarship.  

She ignores Wynonna’s text during second period about meeting behind the church because she finally has hope that she’s actually going to make it out of this cesspool.  

Of course what they are serving in the cafeteria is absolutely disgusting so she settles on a bag of chips from the vending machine.  She’s doing a walk and eat from the machine to the table where the rest of her basketball team is sitting when she’s plucked from her very step.  She nearly chokes on her chip at the sudden shift in her movements and looks down at her wide eyed ex-girlfriend.

“Nicky,” Shae hums, prompting a very visible cringe from Nicole, “Sit down.”

Shae pats the open bench beside her, Nicole’s eyes trailing from the open space to Shae’s warm, inviting gaze.  The open space hardly looks like enough room for Nicole to settle into and she will be forced with the options of being cramped against Shae’s friend Jasmine or cramped against Shae.  Neither of the two options sound very good right now.

But, she’s pretty much off limits to every other hot, interested girl in the school thanks to Shae’s claws so if she ever wants to get laid again then she might as well comply.

She takes a quick look around the cafeteria, searching for a way out of this.

There’s always the softball team.  Maybe one of those babes will give her a chance.  She locks eyes with a girl at the table and she immediately scowls at Nicole, lip curling upwards in disgust.

Reluctantly, she drops her bag of chips down on the table and buckles in between the two best friends.

“So,” Nicole says slowly.  She looks around the table of cheerleaders, everyone present except Waverly and her close friends.  She wraps one hand around her bag of chips while shoving one hand into it for some more of her lunch.  “What’s up?”

“Your house,” Shae says.  Nicole feels a hand slide across her back as she shoves a few chips into her mouth, crunching on them extra loud.  She leans back a little, coincidentally also leaning into Shae’s touch, and looks at Shae more clearly.  “Tonight. A party.”

Waverly’s supposed to come to her house tonight and she has an extra $250 in her wallet.

She has a quiz in her first class tomorrow that she really needs help preparing for.

Nicole chews for an extended amount of time before she swallows.  She says, “I, um, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

 

 

 

 

The cup in her hand is nearly empty.

She quickly checks her watch to see if she has enough time for a refill before Waverly arrives, and she’s honestly a little annoyed to see that she does have enough time.  When she reluctantly agreed at lunch to this stupid, fucking rager she hadn’t actually planned to participate in the party.  In fact, when she let everyone in she had given strict rules not to enter her bedroom.

And to leave her alone.

The first and second rules were both highly ignored.

Now she’s killing time against her better judgment trying to keep herself sober enough and hidden enough from Shae that she can keep standing upright.  She’s really trying to make improvements but Shae is not making it easy.  Not with her round of short dresses and shiny lipsticks.  Just because they’re broken up doesn’t mean that Shae stops being attractive.

She sets her cup down on the island in the kitchen and turns on her heel, running directly into sex on two legs.  She gives Shae a good once over, eyes lingering on the hem of Shae’s very short dress that is certainly only here to prove a point.  She works her gaze up to Shae’s face and remembers that she’s been trying to avoid her ex-girlfriend for the last hour.

“Shae,” Nicole says like she’s pleasantly surprised, quickly biting her bottom lip, “I like your...dress.”

“Thanks,” she says, making a showroom spin, “I got it at Nordstrom.”

“That’s nice,” Nicole mutters.  She gulps because she knows this is a bad idea.  She doesn’t even really like Shae as a person anymore, but she’s so wrapped up in this image she’s spent 4 years creating that she doesn’t even know how to get out of this.  “Look, I have to go.”

She takes a step back and puts some space between them because she knows by now.  Shae can easily talk her way into Nicole’s pants and she’s trying to stand her ground here.  Actually, she’s trying to get the hell out of here.  She quickly steps around the only woman who is taller than her in heels and makes a beeline for the stairs.

When she gets right in front of the open front door, she sees a very pissed looking Waverly.

She gulps, that feeling of getting turned on flaring up again.

“Waverly,” she says, low in the back of her throat.  Waverly’s jaw clenches and her nostrils flare.  Oh man, she really has a problem with that anger thing being sexy as hell.  Waverly turns to flee from the house and, honestly, Nicole doesn’t blame her.  “Wait, just wait up.”

She follows Waverly through the throngs of people gathered in her front yard, being louder than her neighbors would probably like.  Worst case, her parents would get a phone call that brings them home.  One day, one of these parties will really get their attention.

She takes the steps of the front porch two at a time until she realizes that Waverly’s obviously head cheerleader for a reason.  She jumps down the last half of the stairs and rushes to get in front of Waverly, using her body to block the walkway.  Waverly looks pretty fucking cute in that cardigan thing she has on. 

“Please just stop,” Nicole huffs, lifting her hands up in the air between them but not touching her, “Let me explain.”

“It just doesn’t seem like you’re taking this very seriously,” Waverly says, voice almost booming across the lawn.

“I really had nothing to do with this,” Nicole insists.

“It’s your house,” Waverly argues, “You have a flippin’ history quiz tomorrow!  Do you want to pass senior year or not?”

“I do,” Nicole says, just not quite as loudly, “I’m trying here, I really am.”

“Not good enough,” Waverly replies.

For the third time this week, Nicole is left watching Waverly Earp storm away.

And it is absolutely hot as hell.


	2. Run and Gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole maybe might like that tutor girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for the feedback. It's taken me awhile to come to terms with this fic and the way it sits. I went back and forth about whether or not I felt it was good enough or a waste of my time. I hope you enjoy it, or continue to anyway.

The big ass blue bus with Demons painted on the side sits at a perfectly annoying angle next to the gym and Nicole is standing right beside it with 20 minutes to spare.

The bus is always mandatory for the first game regardless of distance of the other school.  The bus ride will only be half an hour but that’s definitely enough time for Nicole to get through to Waverly.  She turns on the charm before she gets onto the bus, immediately facing the horde of cheerleaders.

Lucky for her, not a single one is missing.

And Shae is looking at her expectantly.

She pushes the bag portion of her duffel bag in front of her body as she makes her way down the middle.  Strolling past Shae, Nicole ignores the completely terrifying look on her ex-girlfriend’s face.  The look that says she doesn’t understand a single thing that’s happening.

Attempting another bold move, Nicole sits in the empty space on the bench Waverly is currently sitting on.  She removes the strap of her duffel bag from her shoulder and sets the bag on the floor by her feet.  She feels Waverly’s eyes on her, boring into her with such ferocity that Nicole feels a chill rack down her spine.

“Give me thirty minutes,” Nicole says, shifting her gaze over to Waverly.

She’s a nervous wreck.

“I’ll give you two,” Waverly replies, voice stern and decided.

“If I get up,” Nicole starts, looking Waverly in the eye and refusing to back down, “Champ is going to try to sit next to you, is that what you want?”

Waverly sighs loudly, defeated. She says, “No.”

Nicole smiles triumphantly as she turns her attention back to her bag.  She leans down, her high tops squeaking on the metal as she shifts her foot to better access her bag between her legs.  When she glances up, she notices that every single person on the bus is staring at them.

She narrows her eyes at them and they all pretend not to be looking anymore.

She proceeds to her task of pulling her notebook out of her bag and balances it on her leg as she leans down to get a book.

The bus erupts with noise as the rest of her team and the boys’ basketball team file into it.  She gets a lot of weird looks as they enter, for sitting in the middle of the bus and not at the back like usual.  When she isn’t getting weird looks, she’s getting dirty looks from Champ but he doesn’t dare say anything to her in front of Waverly.

This works 2 ways: he won’t say anything to Nicole in front of Waverly that makes him look like a jerk, and he won’t say anything to Waverly in front of Nicole because he’s scared of Nicole.

It’s a win-win.

With her stack of school related material on her lap, she sits back and looks over at Waverly.  Waverly is doing her best to ignore Nicole now, looking out of the window and not paying her any mind.  Nicole knows she has to come up with something clever to get Waverly’s attention, but there’s so much to be said and she doesn’t know where to start.

She lets the silence settle between them as the bus becomes completely filled, her coach being the last to file on and sit at the very front.

The bus moves forward in a few minutes and Nicole finally knows how to convince Waverly.

“So, hey,” Nicole says, nudging Waverly a little, “I have that money for you.”

“Nicole,” she replies sharply, giving Nicole a pointed glare, “I don’t want your money.”

“Okay,” Nicole says slowly, palm pressing hard against her book to keep it steady.  The bus jolts forward as the driver starts moving it.  Everyone starts chatting aimlessly but Nicole can’t make any of the words out.  “What do you want from me then, Waverly?”

“Nothing,” Waverly says with so much conviction that it stings a little, “You made it clear that you’re just wasting my time.”

“No I didn’t,” Nicole says, denying whatever Waverly thinks of her.  She gets how it looks, but she isn’t going to accept that she was just throwing a party when she’s trying to get her grades up.  She isn’t going to walk away tonight without Waverly agreeing to give her one more chance.  “I stayed up all night doing homework just to show you that I’m trying.”

“You blew me off,” Waverly reminds her.

“I did not blow you off,” Nicole says firmly, “Shae wanted-- “

“Shae?!” Waverly interrupts, her voice sharp like a knife but volume controlled, “Are you back together?”

“Well, no,” Nicole says slowly, confused where Waverly is going with this.

“Then why are you letting her ruin your life?” Waverly asks.

“Harsh,” Nicole mumbles.  Although harsh, Waverly might have a point. Shae is naturally smart and doesn’t have to spend very much time studying.  She does homework quickly, takes notes in class, and makes it out with good grades.  She can dedicate every other waking moment to partying and her social life, but Nicole can’t do the same.  “We’re not even dating.”

“She convinces you to have parties when you should be studying,” Waverly points out.

“Look, Shae is smart, really smart,” Nicole says, knowing exactly what cards she has up her sleeve, “But she isn’t as smart as you.”

“Ok,” Waverly says, bursting into laughter, “Are you trying to flatter me?”

“Is it working?”

“Not really,” Waverly mutters, her annoyance returning all too quickly.

Nicole watches her silently as the bus keeps on trekking.  Waverly doesn’t spare her another glance and she allows herself to be pulled into a conversation with a few of her teammates.  When the conversation lulls she opens her book to look through it but is quickly drawn back into the excitement of her teammates, beginning to feel her own adrenaline pump.

She’s going to take this game away with a win.

Easily. 

 

 

 

 

The game is in the bag.  Nicole scores 3 three pointers and goes to the line twice for 2 sets of free throws which she nails.  All of her endurance training gives her the 48 minutes of play time she wants without much need to stop for a breather.

After the game, she takes a quick shower in the locker room to wash all of the sweat off of herself.  She changes clothes from what she wore to school that day.  She trades out her high tops for a pair of black boots.  She pulls on a pair of black jeans a light blue, denim button up.  She makes sure to grab her jacket, the varsity jacket with Purgatory High School emblem on it. 

By the time she makes it out of the locker room half of her team is sitting with their parents and the other half isn’t present.  She could guess that they’re grabbing a bite to eat, but she isn’t going to bother finding out.  They already did their chitter chatter in the locker room. 

She finds a spot on the bleachers away from everyone.  The only person nearby is Chrissy’s dad.  During the game she thought she saw Wynonna somewhere in the bleachers, but now she can’t find her.  And, she knows that if she’s going to actually graduate then she needs to start trying harder.  She’s already behind and she has no clue how she’s going to catch up by herself. 

She doesn’t blame Waverly for telling her no so many times.  She waited until the last possible moment to ask for help, and she’s under the wire here.  Part of her had hoped if she tanked one of her classes then her parents would notice, but that’s been a no go.

Now she’s the only person left with any regrets. 

Halfway through her studying, Coach Lucado comes to sit by her.  Coach Lucado kind of gives her a silent support, acting as a buffer between her and her teammates.  She’s grateful, but Coach Lucado was the first person to start riding her ass about her grades mostly because it’s in the team’s best interest.  Coach Lucado, however, has always taken more interest in her well-being than her parents have. 

Once the boys’ game is over she excuses herself to the bus, escaping the nosy eye of her teammates.  They’ve been trying to talk to her all evening, but with coach running interference they haven’t really had a chance.  The rate she’s going with reading and what not, trying to finally get her shit together, thinking about what Waverly said in regards to Shae, she isn’t really interested in anything that her teammates have to say right now.

She’s sitting on the bus for a lousy 5 minutes, trying to get comfortable with her back pressed against the side of the metal contraption and her legs sticking out into the aisle because her legs are so long.  It’s after those 5 minutes of discomfort that she finally hears somebody else getting onto the bus.  At the sight of Waverly climbing the stairs, she realizes that a younger version of herself wouldn’t have cared but now she can’t help but feel disappointed.

She isn’t disappointed at the sight of Waverly herself, but she’s disappointed at the fact she has no reason to be excited about seeing Waverly.

That’s fucking deep.

“Hey,” Waverly says softly, less combative than she has been.  Nicole nods in acknowledgement as Waverly makes her way down the aisle and stops when she gets to the seat Nicole is in.  Waverly lightly taps the bottom of her boot and Nicole takes the direction, moving her legs for Waverly to sit down next to her.  “Maybe I was wrong about you.”

“Really?” Nicole says, suspicious of Waverly’s approach.

“I see that you’re trying,” Waverly says, confirming to her that she had actually noticed Nicole in the bleachers.  Nicole suspected as much, one time, when she looked up from her shitty notes and saw Waverly watching her.  But Waverly had looked away so quickly that she thought she had been imagining it.  “You just have no backbone when it comes to Shae.”

“Hey now,” Nicole says instinctively.  She laughs suddenly, quiet and soft like she doesn’t want to disturb the air, at the realization that Waverly could be right.  Or, she could see why Waverly would think that.  It isn’t so much about Shae as much as it is about her image.  “This isn’t about Shae.”

“No, it isn’t,” Waverly agrees, “This is about you.  You’re gonna have to be available when I’m available if you want me to help you.”

Nicole stares at her, thinking about what that entails.

No more unscheduled parties.

No more distraction during study sessions.

No more Shae.

No more getting laid.

That’s the hardest one of all, but if she wants to play college basketball then she has to have the grades to pass high school first.

She nods slowly, throat aching at the resistant strain.

“Can you do that for me?”

_I can do anything for you_ , Nicole thinks.

Mostly because she has to do it by Waverly’s rules or maybe take senior year all over again.

And a little bit because Waverly is hot.

And because she doesn’t care about what Shae or anyone else thinks.

She realizes she hasn’t said anything in a really, really long time and Waverly’s eyes are so warm.  She swallows thickly, the strain in her throat gone.  She quickly scratches at her leg, a way to distract herself before looking at Waverly’s beautiful windows to her soul again.

She nods then, watching Waverly’s mouth curl into a bright smile.  Waverly’s eyes crinkle to match.  Nicole melts a little bit at the sight.

“Wynonna’s waiting for me,” Waverly announces, “But you’ll meet me tomorrow around eleven?”

“Yeah,” Nicole says, throat clogged, “Where?”

Nicole watches Waverly stand up.  Eyes lingering on Waverly’s ass too long, she realizes she’s caught when Waverly clears her throat.  For once, Nicole blushes at being caught and quickly lifts her eyes to Waverly’s.

“You can buy me a coffee,” Waverly says.

 

 

 

 

Nicole wakes up earlier than normal for her typical Saturday.  She goes for her run, drinks an entire bottle of water, takes a shower, and eats breakfast.  She picks out a dark floral button up shirt and a pair of red skinny pants to go with them.  She puts on those same pair of black boots from the night before and, when she looks at herself in the mirror, she thinks she looks pretty hot.

That should work in her favor here. 

She packs all of her books into her backpack along with her notes that she’s been trying to take in class.  The notes mostly look like chicken scratch because she keeps disassociating, mostly confused right out of the gate about what her teachers are talking about.  Maybe Waverly can give her a few pointers for class.  

Before she leaves her house she grabs the black satin bomber jacket with the cotton zip up hoodie material on the inside, a gray hood for her to use to protect herself from the cold. 

It isn’t difficult to figure out where she’s supposed to meet Waverly for coffee.  There’s only one coffee place in town and its coffee is subpar, but it’s the only option.  Nicole thinks about it for a second and adds it to the list of reasons why she can’t wait to get out of this town, lack of options. 

She parks her Land Rover in front of the coffee shop next to a red Jeep Wrangler and notices that Waverly is in the driver’s seat.  Nicole sighs, defeated, because she really thought she was going to beat Waverly to this place.  Waverly, however, doesn’t notice her so she climbs out of her vehicle with her bag clutched in her hand before rounding the car.  She goes over to the driver’s side of the Wrangler and knocks on the window.

Waverly pops the door open once Nicole has moved out of her way and immediately gives Nicole that bright, warm smile from last night.  Waverly looks different, more attractive than usual, in a pair of maroon pants that stop about 4 inches above her ankle and a pair of black boots.  The boots are bulkier than Nicole’s own narrow fit boots, but they still look cute on Waverly. 

When she realizes that there’s a small chance that she might be drooling, she quickly closes her mouth and offers Waverly the largest smile her mouth can manage. 

“Good morning,” Waverly says, voice bright. 

“Morning to you too, Teacher,” Nicole says, smirking. 

She catches Waverly’s eye roll but she’s pretty sure that Waverly also chuckles under her breath.  Following Waverly two steps behind into the coffee shop, she’s careful not to take such long strides so she doesn’t collide with Waverly.  She holds the door open for Waverly, but only because she uses her long arms to reach for the door and hold it open.  She isn’t even sure if Waverly notices. 

“Why don’t we find a table to put our stuff down?” Waverly suggests, the door slowly swinging shut behind them.  Nicole nods, but is quickly reminded that she owes Waverly for this.  She sets her backpack down in an empty chair and immediately insists that she treat to the coffee. 

Waverly reluctantly agrees to let her provide the beverages.  Nicole does go and grab two coffees, but she doesn’t know how Waverly takes hers.  Nicole doesn’t even particularly like coffee, she usually drinks tea, but she didn’t want to be the one to make things difficult.  The moment she makes it back to the table she shrugs her jacket off and drapes it on the back of her chair.

After they’ve sipped on their coffees a bit, Nicole starts taking her schoolwork out of her bag and spreading it across the table.  Waverly doesn’t say anything at first, just waits patiently until all of the books and notes are on the table between them, and starts looking through the materials.  Nicole doesn’t approach with any excuses right away, just feels the embarrassment start to crawl up her insides as Waverly studies what’s in front of her. 

Nicole does her own studying in return.

The way Waverly bites her lip while scanning page after page.  The way Waverly has one leg draped over the other, foot slightly bouncing as she reads.  The way Waverly twists her thick hair around one finger, the curl naturally wrapping around the appendage. 

_Oh, god, I might have a crush on her_ , Nicole realizes. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Waverly says suddenly, dropping the stack of papers back down on the table. 

This takes Nicole out of her reverie.  She’s no longer thinking about the fact that she just might be crushing on the most unattainable girl in the entire school.  This isn’t because there’s a 0% chance that Waverly would be interested in her because she’s a girl, she’s heard the rumors about Waverly having that girlfriend at camp 2 summers ago.  It’s because there’s a 0% chance that Waverly would be interested in anyone because people aren’t books. 

She’s never heard of an unrequited crush before. 

“Uh, yeah,” Nicole mutters, feeling a little caught like Waverly can read minds, “Anything.” 

“How did you let your grades get this bad?”  Waverly asks. 

Nicole feels a huge sigh of relief escape her.  She thought, for just a second, that Waverly had figured out she’s toying with the idea of having a crush on her.  She smiles and says, “My parents are never around.  I thought tanking grades might get their attention, might get them to care, but I guess I was wrong.” 

“They sound like assholes,” Waverly says. 

Nicole feels a laugh bubble up in her chest at Waverly’s response.  In a way, Waverly’s right, they are assholes to never be around.  But when they are it’s worse than when they’re gone.  She’s having to parent herself most days but when they come around they try to parent her.  It’s more stressful.  She appreciates Waverly being candid rather than feeding her fake sympathy. 

“They’re probably where I get it,” Nicole replies, brazenly. 

At this, Waverly smiles politely, like she disagrees, but doesn’t actually voice a disagreement.

“So, I have a favor to ask of you,” Nicole says.  Waverly looks mildly annoyed at the prospect of doing her another favor.  Nicole looks away from her scrutinizing gaze and just tries to steady her nerves.  “I’ve been having a really hard time paying attention in class and when I do, I have no fucking clue what they’re talking about.  Can I maybe copy your notes?”

Waverly practically guffaws before the question even fully leaves Nicole’s mouth.

Panicking internally, Nicole adds, “I’ll pay you more.  Please.  I fucked up and I’m just trying to get my shit together.”

“It’s a little late for that, Nicole,” Waverly says.

She watches Waverly lean back against her chair, entire body beginning to detach from this again.

Nicole doesn’t blame her, but she really doesn’t like it.

“I said I fucked up,” Nicole replies defensively, “Here’s the thing.  If I don’t get my grades up, I’m not going to college.”

“I know,” Waverly replies, voice softening.  She sighs and leans forward again, looking at Nicole’s shitty notes.  She’s silent for about a minute as she continues looking at the papers where she left off.  “I’ll ask Chrissy if I can have a copy of her notes but you have to start paying attention in class.”

“I know,” Nicole says with a nod.  She leans forward more, trying to get a look at what Waverly is looking at.  Her elbow touches Waverly’s and she can’t make herself move.  “I wanted to ask you some pointers about note taking.”

Waverly starts telling her about her note taking process.  It seems like a lot more planning than Nicole wants but it makes a lot of sense.  She’s sure that if she actually saw Waverly’s notes then it would really encourage her to give the method a go.  After devoting some time to that, Waverly gets her to go over the areas of studies that she needs the most help in.  

History, math, science then English.

Their next tutoring session they’re going to go over more history.  On Monday, Waverly is going to give up her seat in the front of the class to sit next to Nicole in Pre-Calc so she can explain things that Nicole doesn’t get.  Since they don’t have the formal desks in their math class and have the tables they sit at with a partner it will be easier so Nicole doesn’t get further behind.  This is something that Waverly said she will talk to their science teacher about, so they can switch to be lab partners for the rest of the semester.  If he says no, then they will just be lab partners at the beginning of the next semester since lab partners reset.  Finally, Waverly offers to proof read all of her English assignments before Nicole turns it in.

By the end of their time together she gives Waverly the other $250, an additional $100 for the notes as well as $600 for the next week.

 

 

 

Nicole sees Waverly in the hallway on Monday and they sit next to each other during math. Waverly fills in the gaps and she gets it a little easier.  Their science teacher denies Waverly’s request to switch lab partners.  Nicole’s lab partner is Shae so she knows that she isn’t as badly off as she could be if she had another lab partner.

She doesn’t have much opportunity to talk to Waverly during school on Monday or Tuesday.  Nicole does notice how cute Waverly looks and for a few minutes on Tuesday gets distracted during math.  Despite the distraction, she still starts this week off better than any other week of the school year so far. 

Tuesday night they have another away game.

Nicole finds herself getting excited at the prospect of the bus ride which is a little bit longer this time.  In fact, she makes sure to wear her second best outfit to school and bring her favorite blue sweater to wear after the game.  She does make the decision to wear her black high tops all day, the ones with the translucent brown sole on them.  So she can bring more of her homework in her bag rather than pack a third pair of shoes.

When she gets onto the bus Waverly is already in it.  There are some cheerleaders missing this time but some of her basketball team is already on it.  Champ has already found a seat next to Waverly and Nicole is angrier than she probably should be.

She glares at Champ but, by the time she locks eyes with Waverly, the angry look is replaced with one of sadness.

Nicole makes her way further into the bus and sits on an empty bench a few rows behind Waverly.  She leans back against the window and sprawls across the bench.  She’s annoyed enough that she doesn’t bother trying to get her books out yet.

A few minutes passes before the bus energy shifts.  Nicole is honestly filled with surprise when Waverly appears in front of her, looking down at her from her standing position in the aisle.  She waits for Waverly to say something and when she doesn’t, she taps Waverly on the knee with the toe of her shoe.

“Oh, come on,” Waverly says, voice a little more playful than normal, “Don’t play coy with me.”

“Why not?” Nicole grumbles.

She sets the foot on the outside of the bench on the floor and keeps tapping out some Morse code she doesn’t know against Waverly’s leg.

“Fine,” Waverly says flippantly.

Waverly leans forward and Nicole gets the pleasure of that wavy, brunette hair brushing across her face.  Setting her bag on top of Nicole’s, Waverly turns her head to look at her and Nicole notices they’re inches apart.  She could lean forward right now and she could kiss her, she could.

Surprising her, Waverly pulls back and winks at her.

_Was she just flirting?_

Waverly slides onto the seat between Nicole’s legs which immediately prompts Nicole to sit upright.  She doesn’t quite move her legs right away, letting her knee press against Waverly’s spine.  Waverly looks minimally bothered.  That’s when she remembers who Waverly’s sister is.

“Didn’t want to sit by Champ?” Nicole finally asks.

“No,” Waverly says, leaning forward a little and Nicole misses the contact, “Besides, I knew you’d miss me.”

“You caught me,” Nicole admits, playing it up enough that hopefully Waverly thinks it’s a joke.  They both laugh softly but then sit there in silence for a few minutes.  Nicole pulls her long leg towards her chest, trying to give Waverly a little bit more room.  “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Waverly replies, turning more towards Nicole.

“Those cheerleading uniforms,” Nicole starts, “Do you have to wear them to the game?”

“Didn’t you and Shae date for like a really long time?” Waverly immediately fires back, an amused look on her face.

“Yeah, but we didn’t talk,” Nicole says.  Which is true.  They didn’t really do much talking.  They played games to make each other jealous.  They had sex and partied constantly which didn’t leave much time for conversation.  “Besides, I don’t think she ever would have answered me honestly.”

“It’s just easier,” Waverly answers, “We don’t get a locker room like you and that way we don’t clog up the bathroom.”

She feels Waverly shiver against her leg and she notices the goosebumps littering Waverly’s skin.  She pulls her leg more towards herself as she uses the backs of the seats on either side of her to stand up.  She shrugs off her jacket, the black bomber jacket from Saturday, and hands it to Waverly.

Waverly stares at her like a deer in the headlights.

“You’re cold,” Nicole says by way of explanation.

“I’m always cold,” Waverly says.

“I can’t have you freezing on my watch,” Nicole replies.  Waverly finally takes the jacket and Nicole sits back down, facing Waverly but pulling up her knee between them.  She’s finding some stupid comfort that every time she touches Waverly, she doesn’t shy away.  “Can I ask you another question?" 

“Yes,” Waverly answers, her voice barely heard over the sound of Nicole’s jacket swishing while she drapes it over her legs.

“That rumor about you,” Nicole starts.  She’s not even sure why she’s asking.  She can’t look Waverly in the eye when she asks, looking away like she’s scanning the rest of the bus.  She releases a breath and finds the courage to look back at Waverly.  “Is it true?”

“What does it matter to you?” Waverly asks.  Her voice lacks malice, just curiosity.

“I guess it doesn’t,” Nicole says.  She decides that being vulnerable with Waverly isn’t the right direction to go anymore.  Obviously she’s barking up the wrong tree.  “Just would have made you more interesting.”

“So you think I’m interesting?”

“I think you’re a complete nerd,” Nicole replies.

“Well, this nerd brought you copies of all their notes,” Waverly says, smirking, “You’re welcome.”

“Oh yes,” Nicole says, dramatically, “Thank you.  You’re my hero.”

In no time, the bus is fully loaded and headed towards the school they’re playing against.  They go over all of the math problems she was having trouble with and she’s feeling smarter by the second.  Pursuing Waverly just might be the smartest decision that Nicole has ever made.

 

 

 

 

After finding the note posted on the gym door about practice being cancelled, and quickly finding Coach Lucado to second guess the authority, she’s sitting in the gym while the cheerleaders practice.  Most of her basketball team is out sick, somehow managing to hold it in until after their win.  She actually thinks she’s the only one who made it out alive.

The cheerleading squad isn’t much better.  There’s only a handful of them in school today and they’re out with the same excuse.  Shae included.

Nicole is honestly a little relieved not having to put up with Shae all day.  For the most part she has to avoid Shae at all costs, especially in math where Waverly saves her a seat and keeps her on track.  Today has really been the ultimate gift.

At the direction of Coach Lucado, she’s watching Waverly do her balancing act of head cheerleader and tutor.

She’s actually learning a lot more about Waverly that she never knew.  Waverly is working with the lower class men on their moves and making sure they’re all comfortable.  Waverly is patient and kind, something Shae would never have been if she had gotten head cheerleader. 

Every once in a while, when the lower class men are riding out the entire choreography, Waverly comes over to check on her and her school work.  She has to show Nicole a few mistakes she’s making in a few math problems, and she does it with the same patience and poise that she coach’s the lower class men.  Not to mention that she’s able to split her focus kindly and make both parties feel well taken care of.

Every now and then, Waverly will look up from her squad completing a routine and smile at Nicole.  She hates to admit it, but the way Waverly’s bright and warm and crinkly smile makes her feel is stupid.  She feels equally bright and warm and crinkly, and she knows she looks like an idiot in front of the lower class men.

In fact, she feels so stupid that she decides she’s going to completely abort this entire idea.

She packs all of her stuff up in her backpack and says, “Thanks for the help.”

She lets Waverly be the one to watch her leave, for once.


	3. Posting Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole finally makes a move.

Trying to put this Waverly thing behind her, Nicole plans a party at her house.  She acquires 2 kegs and a couple bottles of tequila.  She doesn’t get her favorite because it’s more expensive and she doesn’t care to share with all of her fake friends.

The party’s been bouncing off of the walls for nearly 3 hours and she’s been floating.

Going from Erica in her short skirt and long boots to Becky in her tight pants and tall heels, finally trying to talk up Heather and long, braided hair.

None of them hold her attention long enough to even forget Waverly’s big, bright smile.  Not even when Becky had touched her forearm the way that used to work so well.  Not even when Erica trails her fingers over Nicole’s jaw.  Not even when Heather presses her body close and tries to kiss her.

Nicole pulls away from their touch so quickly that she’s left reeling, wondering why.

She hasn’t even had this weird crush on Waverly for a week and she already can’t get into her groove with anyone else.  Finally, finally, Shae is nowhere to be found to interrupt her pursuit of another girl showing her interest, but she can’t get Waverly out of the forefront of her mind.  The way that she’s thought about Waverly more during her stupid little crush than she ever thought about Shae in the 2 years they were together…

It’s absolutely cruel.

The level of energy it takes for her to play this role is just so absolutely tiring that she doesn’t even want to stay at her own house.

Her thoughts are cloudy and all she can think about is the one person that she actually wants to see.  She grabs her car keys and sneaks out of her house, making sure not to be spotted again by Becky, Erica or Heather.  She reaches her car in the driveway, nearly blocked in to the wide half circle by other cars, but there’s enough space for her to squeeze out. 

She takes a moment at the end of the driveway to find a song on her phone, the Bluetooth automatically connecting.  She settles on a song, one from before she was even born but that she remembers her aunt playing all of the time.  Especially when her aunt was mad at her uncle.

She can relate to that feeling right now. 

Natalie Imbruglia blasts from the car speakers, vibrating the back end as she pulls out into the street.  The streets are fairly empty for a Friday night and it’s a pretty painless drive.  All of a sudden, she finds her car pulling up beside the McCready house.  Everybody knows everybody else in this town.  Finding out where Waverly lives is rather easy, especially now that she knows she drives the only red Jeep Wrangler that’s in town. 

She parks her car and climbs out of it.  Quietly, she walks across the lawn to stand below a window with the light on.  She can’t actually see inside, but it’s the only room with a light on in the house.  She looks at her phone screen, lighting it up and seeing that it’s very close to midnight.  She tucks her phone away in her pocket and starts searching the ground, looking for a tiny rock. 

She pinches it between her fingers and gears up to throw it at the window when her actions are cut off by a voice sounding.

“That’s not my room,” she says with a laugh. 

“Oh,” Nicole says slowly.  She looks from the window and in the direction of the voice.  She squints into the dark to see the form of the person on the front porch. 

“That’s Waves’ bedroom,” Wynonna says. 

“Is it?”  Nicole mutters.  She drops the rock to the ground, giving up the jig.  She looks fully at Wynonna, stepping towards her as Wynonna also steps towards Nicole.  “My bad.” 

“You would have been sorely disappointed,” Wynonna replies with a smirk, “She isn’t nearly as fun as I am.”

“I can believe that,” Nicole says with a quiet, agreeing laugh.  Although Waverly might not be as fun as Wynonna, Nicole could argue that she’s just as pretty.  She’s having a really hard time shaking Waverly out of her system and they’ve barely even touched.  She meets Wynonna on the walkway to the front of the house.  “She probably would be pissed.” 

“Whooooo,” Wynonna whistles, “She’d be pissed knowing you drove here smelling like that, that’s for sure.” 

“What?”  Nicole asks, eyebrows dropping in confusion. 

“Dude, you reek of alcohol,” Wynonna says. 

 _Fuck_ , Nicole thinks, _If Waverly saw her like this she would probably lose her shit_. 

“I’m fine,” Nicole argues, “What are you even doing here?”

“Um, I live here,” Wynonna replies.  She rolls her eyes.  “My sister told me you might actually be smart but I don’t believe her.” 

“Hey,” Nicole snaps.  She forgets anything else she was thinking of saying because she gets caught on the idea that Waverly might actually talk about her.  She realizes she has this stupid smile growing on her face and quickly steps over into a shadow. 

“I’m going to drive you home,” Wynonna tells her, “Give me your keys.”

“No.” 

“Just give me your keys,” Wynonna says, growing tired of this conversation, “If Waves found out I let you drive after drinking she would kill me.  Then you.  Then me again.” 

“Ugh,” Nicole huffs, actually touched that Waverly might care about her, “Fine.  But you can’t drive my car like a bat out of hell.” 

She pulls her keys out of her pocket and dangles them out between them. 

“I finally get to drive this wild beast,” Wynonna says excitedly, snatching the keys from Nicole’s hand. 

Wynonna takes off in a jog towards Nicole’s Land Rover.  Nicole sulks under her breath but follows Wynonna to her car.  She climbs into the passenger seat while Wynonna climbs into the driver’s side.  This side of the car feels really uncomfortable as she settles in, buckling her seat belt. 

They don’t really chat much in the car, but Nicole is pleasantly surprised that Wynonna is a careful, decent driver.  When they reach her house, the party is still powering on.  She doubts anyone even noticed that she left in the first place.

“So, how are you getting home?” Nicole asks, stepping out of her vehicle. 

“My Friday night is coming to pick me up,” Wynonna says with a wink. 

Wynonna dangles the keys off of one finger as she leans back against the vehicle.  Nicole joins her leaning against the vehicle.  She takes her keys and shoves them into her pocket.  They wait in silence until Wynonna’s mysterious ride shows up, Wynonna telling her a brutal goodbye by flipping the bird.  Nicole just laughs as she goes into her house and heads directly to bed.

 

 

 

 

The heavy knocking on the door doesn’t seem to bother anyone else, at least that’s what she notices as she comes down the stairs and sees that not a single person passed out in the living room has stirred.  When she makes it all of the way to the bottom and is standing in front of the door, she realizes she’s still wearing her clothes from the night before.  In retrospect, she’s just glad she managed to sleep alone.

Nicole pulls open the front door.  While mid-movement, she realizes that no one bothered to lock it last night.  At least someone managed to close it.

Her breath catches in her throat when she sees Waverly on the other side of the threshold.

Wynonna must have told her about last night.

“Waverly,” she says, feeling embarrassed.

“Hey,” Waverly replies slowly, “I know we weren’t supposed to meet up today but you’ve been working so hard that I thought you could use a break.”

“Uh,” Nicole mutters, her brain about 2 steps behind.  She lifts a hand and runs it through her hair, pretty sure that it’s sticking up in random places.  She knows she should tell Waverly no, try to put more space between them, but something is drawing her in.  “Just let me get my shoes on.”

Waverly nods patiently.

Nicole leaves the door ajar as she runs up the stairs to grab a pair of shoes.  She catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror and is utterly embarrassed by her appearance, but she doesn’t have time to deal with it right now.  Her black jeans are bunched up by her calves and her red and black flannel is wrinkled.  She finds her pair of brown shoes that stops at her ankles and ties the laces.

Grabbing her wallet, keys, a gray beanie, and her jacket, she heads down the stairs quickly.  Waverly is still standing outside, bundled up in her jeans and snow shoes and a warm looking jacket.  She even has a beanie on her head with her hair warm around her ears.

She stops at the bottom of the stairs, watching Waverly for just a moment.

When Waverly peeks back inside it immediately shakes Nicole out of her reverie, and she rushes down the stairs so quickly that she’s out of the door in a flash.  She nearly knocks into Waverly, but manages to stop just in time.  She’s so close that she can feel the warmth radiating off of Waverly’s body.

“What did you have in mind?” Nicole says, lifting her gaze from Waverly and looking out at the yard.  There are still eight cars in the driveway.  She knows Waverly has to be aware of the people in the house.  “Whatever it is, you have to drive.”

“We’re not driving,” Waverly says with a smile that draws Nicole back in.

Nicole nods in agreement and they immediately make their way off of the front porch.  The grass is stiff.  It reminds Nicole that she has no idea what time it is.  Suddenly, all she can think about is driving over to Waverly’s house drunk at nearly midnight.  The snow crunches beneath their feet.

They don’t say anything for a long while and she fishes for some kind of conversation starter.

They are nearly three blocks from her house when she thinks of something.  She says, “What’s your patronus?”

"My patronus?” Waverly repeats slowly.

"Like from Harry Potter,” Nicole clarifies.  Waverly has to know what she’s talking about.  She saw Waverly read all of the books in 2 weeks’ time when they were in the 8th grade.  That was the moment Nicole knew Waverly was the biggest nerd.

"Wow,” Waverly mutters.  She thinks her tone is one of astonishment, like Nicole has found a way to hook her interest.  She has a lot more where that came from.  “You’re such a nerd.”

"Mine is a West highland terrier,” Nicole says, ignoring the fact that she was just called a nerd for the first time in her life, “Come on, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.”

Waverly hesitates for a few seconds like she’s too afraid to tell her.  Nicole doesn’t even know the patronus meanings well enough to breakdown her what everything means.  Waverly says, “It's a white mare.”

“I’m going to look up what that means,” Nicole smirks, reaching into her pocket for her phone.

“And you’re not the freaking terrier,” Waverly says, cutting her off from her task.  She almost feels Waverly’s hand on her arm like she’s absolutely terrified Nicole will see deep into the windows of her soul if she finds out exactly what the White Mare patronus means. Then when she looks Waverly in the eye, Nicole thinks she sees a glint there.  She adds, “You just took the quiz until you got one you wanted.”

“The questions were complicated,” Nicole says defensively.

They stop walking and stare each other down.

Nicole thinks, _Waverly is getting angry, sexily angry_.

“Your patronus isn’t a freaking terrier,” Waverly mumbles.

“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to admit that you think I’m cute,” Nicole counters with a smirk.

“Not cute enough to get out of this,” Waverly says, gaze sharpening, “Admit it.”

“So you do think I’m cute,” Nicole says decidedly.

“I didn’t-“

“So you like me?” Nicole quirks an eyebrow, staring Waverly down.

“You’re such a,” Waverly starts, and stutters on the words, “Hawk!”

“What?”

“That’s your patronus,” Waverly says, voice sharper than her gaze, “Because you’re a jerk!”

Waverly starts storming off leaving Nicole to wonder exactly where they went wrong.

“Waverly, wait!” Nicole calls after her, “What does that even mean?”

She sighs, breath turning into a tiny moisture cloud that floats into the wind.  She fishes her phone out of her pocket and unlocks it, quickly pulling up the internet.  She googles hawk patronus and waits for the results to pop up.

Suddenly, Nicole’s hit in the shoulder with a ball of white that splatters into many different pieces.

“Did you just...?”

Her voice trails off as she looks up at Waverly who is standing a good 10 feet away with an unreadable expression.  Nicole quickly shoves her phone into her pocket and leans down to scoop up as much snow as she can.  She packs it gently, maybe too gently, and tosses it poorly at Waverly.  Waverly easily dodges it.

Waverly already has a second snowball that hits her in the exact same shoulder.

“That’s it,” Nicole says.

Grabbing another handful of snow, she takes off into a run at Waverly.  Waverly starts running in the opposite direction into an open field covered in white.  Nicole thinks they’re probably at the park by her house, that it’s extremely convenient that Waverly started this fight near such an open field.

She chases Waverly for a few minutes, maybe 2, allowing Waverly to have the upper hand for longer than Nicole would a normal person.

When Nicole catches Waverly, she decides not to be a total jerk and shove it down the front of Waverly’s shirt.  So, instead, she drops most of the snow to grab Waverly by the waist.  She uses her size and weight to pick Waverly up and spin her at 180 degrees.

Waverly squirms enough that she turns to face Nicole while grabbing Nicole’s upper arms to brace herself but actually only manages to pull them both down.

This movement surprises Nicole and she’s left breathless as she lands on top of Waverly, positioned comfortably between Waverly’s legs.  Waverly’s thighs tightly squeeze at her hips, holding her into place.  She expels a breath as she stares at Waverly’s face.  She searches for something there in Waverly’s eyes.

She says, “You’re really pretty.”

“And you’re crushing me,” Waverly winces out.

“Right,” Nicole says, defeated, “I am.”

Waverly smiles then, big and bright as always.

That’s when Nicole realizes she’s not special.

She quickly rolls off of Waverly, left wondering why Waverly’s body says one thing but her mouth says another.

 

 

 

Spending the majority of her practice staring over at Waverly whenever there’s an interim would typically be something that makes Nicole feel exposed because she’s being so obvious.

But Waverly has been looking back at her and smiling almost encouragingly.

Nicole hasn’t been able to stop thinking about what happened between her and Waverly since it happened.  The worst part is that she can’t even figure out what exactly happened between them.  The closest answer she can come to is that there’s still room to test it out, that the waters are getting warmer. 

After their little moment in the snow, they had dusted themselves off and walked back to Nicole’s house.  Neither had formally addressed what happened.  Nicole hasn’t because she was confused.  She was confused by the way that Waverly’s eyes were encouraging but her words told her to back off.

She wanted to say she was willing to wait but Nicole really isn’t that patient.

Earlier, in math, Nicole had pulled her stool really close to Waverly’s.  It was so close that their knees were touching under the table.  So close that when Waverly leaned forward to look at her problems scratched out on the paper Waverly’s breast had pressed against her elbow and one arm had slipped under Nicole’s.  Waverly’s long fingers had then pressed against Nicole’s paper and pointed out where she went wrong and where she went right.

What had quickly followed was a very embarrassing and disrupting high five.

They were celebrating Nicole finally being on to something.

Admittedly, Nicole hears next to nothing that Coach Lucado says at the end of practice meeting because she is busy staring at Waverly and watching the way her arms flex with those dazzling moves.

She’s elbowed by one of her teammates to join in on the signature team break before they separate for water and going home.

She’s gulped down half a bottle when she realizes the cheerleaders have ended their practice as well.  She’s thinking that even though she hasn’t really talked to Waverly about Saturday yet, or anything not school related really, she probably should now.  Just to get a feel on where they stand. 

She looks away to wave at her team who are loudly calling her name, and when she turns back it’s nothing but disappointment.

Shae is standing in front of her, a villainy sweet smile on her face.  Nicole immediately starts looking for ways to exit the building as quickly as possible.  Shae has never really been that easy to run away from.

“We need to talk,” Shae says.

 _Hello to you too_ , Nicole thinks.

“About?” Nicole says tiredly.  She takes a step back and utilizes the bench by sitting down.  She takes another drink of water.

“You want to get back together,” Shae says.

Nicole is absolutely stunned.  Her eyes widen and she nearly chokes on the water in her mouth.  She lifts a hand and immediately starts wiping at the water that had dribbled over her lip.

She says, “What?”

“Yeah, I get it, I really do,” Shae says, “The homecoming dance is like a month away and Christmas is coming up.  I got you something, too...”

Was she supposed to get Shae something? She didn’t.

“But I was thinking we should wait until we come back from the break,” Shae finishes.

“Well, for starters, I didn’t get you anything for Christmas,” Nicole replies.

“That’s ok,” Shae replies, that stupid smile back as she waves a flippant hand in the air, “There’s still time.”

Maybe Shae is right about that, there is still time to get a Christmas gift.

Nicole stands from the bench again to look Shae in the eye, that way she can hopefully really get her point across.  She doesn’t want to keep doing this.  No, she won’t keep doing this.

“I don’t want to get back together,” Nicole says, “I actually think it’s best if we Taylor Swift it.”

“Huh?”

“Never, ever get back together,” Nicole clarifies.  She grins at her own joke.  Shae doesn’t really find it amusing.  “Anyway, you can keep sleeping with Jasmine and calling her your best friend.  I don’t really care anymore.”

“Nicole,” Shae says in a condescending manner, “That’s just a rumor.”

“Ok,” Nicole says.  She takes another drink of her water and gives Shae a thumbs up.  She drinks the rest of the bottle before turning her attention back to Shae.  Throwing the bottle into the trash, she says, “See ya tomorrow.”

By the time she’s able to tear herself away from Shae, Waverly is already gone.

 

 

 

 

The gym is filling up quickly.

The countdown of the clock alerts her to the fact that the game starts in just less than 15 minutes.  Nicole knows she should really be out there with the rest of her team warming up.  However, there’s something she needs to feel out first. 

Thankfully, Shae and her crew are running late so there’s one thing that she can avoid. 

Nicole stands at the end of the hallway, watching as Waverly laughs at something Chrissy says.  She doesn’t do that thing where she reaches out to touch Chrissy while she laughs, not like she’s done with Nicole a handful of times.  Something blooms in Nicole’s chest, something like hope. 

She sucks in a deep breath to steady her nerves.  She feels more nervous walking up to Waverly right now than she thinks she’s felt about any basketball game.  She steps forward, reciting what she might say. 

She could say: Waverly, I can’t stop thinking about you. 

She could say: I wanted to kiss you the other day. 

She could say: Today in math, when you were pressed against me, I missed what the teacher said.  Can you show me again? 

As she gets within a few feet of Waverly, thinking about what exactly she’s going to say, she looks to her left.  Coach Lucado is staring at her pointedly, tapping at her empty wrist.  She quickly looks to her right and she sees Shae and her posse entering the gym.  

Nicole sighs, knowing that once again, she doesn’t have a chance. 

Instead, she only falters in her step as she passes by Waverly.  Luckily, the squeak of her sneaker gets Waverly’s attention.  They lock eyes and Nicole turns, continuing towards the court. 

She says, “I like your hair.” 

Waverly smiles and mouths a thank you, chin tilting down like she’s slightly embarrassed. 

Nicole thinks she sees a blush on Waverly’s cheeks, a beautiful crinkle around Waverly’s eyes that makes a warmth pool in Nicole’s stomach.

This fuels her during the game and she displays a game better than she can imagine.  She overhears someone in the bleachers hint that a scout might be interested in her.  Every time she starts to feel a bit nervous at the prospect, she looks at Waverly at the cheerleaders.  Sometimes Waverly sees her looking and offers her a smile, or a wink.  It makes Nicole absently wonder if she’s so obvious that Waverly knows she’s looking, if everyone else knows that she’s looking as well. 

She wonders if Shae notices too, if it’ll make her give Waverly a hard time. 

Nicole finds herself being anchored to the game when she looks at Waverly, despite her worry about Shae and her focusing on the game. 

They take that one away with the win.

 

 

 

 

The first loss of the season doesn’t feel as bad as it should.  She doesn’t blame herself because she played as hard as she could, walking away with 26 points.  She showers after the game and puts on a fresh pair of clothes.  She puts on a maroon t-shirt with a planet on it and a pair of black jeans, going with her normal high tops. 

She’s actually the first one to exit the locker room after the game, the boys’ team still in the middle of their warm up. 

She exits with her bag on her shoulder, her spine straight, and looks around the gym.  The boys’ games are never as packed as hers, mostly because they aren’t even half as good.  Plus, during the intermission between games, people usually go the concession.  

Her stomach is growling.  She thinks she should probably grab something to eat, but she’ll wait until the game starts so she doesn’t have to battle the crowd.  She hasn’t eaten since lunch, and even then she didn’t eat anything sustainable. 

When she makes her way to the bleachers for somewhere to set her bag down, she’s immediately given sympathy from the people in the bleachers.  A group of parents, not her own of course, tell her that she did a great job and they should have won that game. 

She doesn’t really have time to dwell on the loss anyway, not with tomorrow being the last day of midterms for the semester.  She thinks Waverly has helped her well enough in all of their joint classes that she’s going to at least secure B’s on every exam, maybe even an A on their math exam.  Setting her bag down on the floor, she stretches about as tall as she can go, pushing up on her toes to get the maximum crack in her bones. 

Her eyes are closed.  Her senses are being overwhelmed by the chatter in the gym.  Lowering herself back down on her heels, she feels some arms circle her and she’s immediately annoyed. 

She peels her eyes open, prepared to tell Shae off, when she notices brunette, wavy hair against her chest.  As if on auto-pilot, she lowers her arms from the air and wraps them around Waverly’s shoulders.  Filling with warmth, Nicole wonders if this means she might have a one in a million chance with her. 

This isn’t the first time they’ve hugged. 

Since that Saturday in the park, Waverly has excitedly given her congratulatory hugs whenever she gets answers right.  She’s learned that Waverly is a touchy person.  She’s also learned that she might like the idea of being with someone who is a touchy person. 

“Oh, hey,” She says softly, squeezing Waverly even tighter, “What’s this for?  I didn’t get anything right.” 

“Yes you did,” Waverly replies, “You played a great game.”

“Thanks, Waverly,” Nicole says.  Waverly loosens her arms around Nicole’s middle.  Feeling a pout spread across her mouth, she reluctantly loosens her grip on Waverly in return.  Waverly smiles up at her.  “I know it’s a little late to ask, but I’m having some trouble really nailing the history stuff.  Do you think after the game you can help me study for a bit?” 

“Of course!” Waverly replies, “Would you mind driving me home then?” 

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Nicole says.  She smiles at Waverly, feeling the cold in the distance between them. 

“Great!  I’ll let Wynonna know she doesn’t have to wait around,” Waverly says.  She reaches out and pats Nicole on the arm, touch lingering there.  Her hand stays pressed against Nicole’s skin as she turns and starts walking away.  “I’ll catch you after.” 

Nicole doesn’t bother responding because Waverly is already too far away. 

After the game starts up, she goes to the concession to get the healthiest food the school offers, which is, unfortunately, some drowned out nachos.  Her stomach appreciates the food, but she knows she’s going to regret not having something with protein.  The game is uneventful as always, the boys losing by a long shot. 

Nicole sits next to Wynonna for a bit.  Wynonna spends this quarter teasing Nicole about having Waverly out too late.  It’s during this time that Nicole realizes she hadn’t ever considered that Wynonna might think of them as pseudo-friends.  And she knows Wynonna would kick her ass on Waverly’s behalf. 

Nicole still doesn’t bother mentioning it, because they aren’t really friends who talk.  She would barely call them friends anyway, but if she did she wouldn’t think of them as friends who share with one another.  Nicole has opened up way more to Waverly over these past few weeks than she has anyone else. 

Wynonna bails at half time and Nicole’s left pretending to be interested in the game.  Some of her teammates have lingered and gathered around her, but she mostly ignores them.  They’re all younger than her and talking about people she’s never hung around with anyway. 

Once the upset ends, the gym clears pretty quickly. 

Her and Waverly make it out within the throngs of people almost undetected.  At least she thinks so.  She wouldn’t care if anyone really did except for the part where people would gladly stop either of them for idle chit chat. 

They both climb into her Land Rover, started when they exited the gym and already warm by the time they reach it.  Nicole glances over at Waverly as she slides the key into the ignition, realizing that she doesn’t really know where they can go to study.  It’s already 10pm and, even though they could go to her house since no one is there, she would hate to scare Waverly off.

“We could,” Nicole starts, turning her eyes away from Waverly as she finishes her though, “Go back to my house.  Just a forewarning though, my parents aren’t home.”

“I finally get to see inside the house of Nicole Haught,” Waverly says, eyebrows wiggling. 

Nicole laughs as she buckles her seatbelt, immediately turning to shift the car into reverse.  The drive to her house isn’t very long, maybe 5 minutes after they get out of the school’s parking lot.  They don’t really say much because the music playing over the radio is something that takes Waverly’s attention immediately. 

When they pull up to her house, the entryway light is on like normal, the rest of the lights off the way that she left them.  Grabbing her bag, she leads Waverly up the front steps.  She unlocks the front door, the house looking pristine.  Thankfully, the maid came today and tidied up. 

“This is the house Haught,” Nicole announces, closing the door behind Waverly.  She locks the door quickly and discards her bag on the couch.  She says, “Let me show you around.” 

She gives Waverly a tour of the downstairs, avoiding her parents’ bedroom.  She shows her where to find the bathroom in case she needs to use it.  She then shows her the kitchen that’s directly off of the living room. 

She offers Waverly some food, but she doesn’t really have many options.  Waverly declines but does accept a glass of water.  After she sets the glass of water on the island, she goes to get her history book out of her bag.  When she returns, she slides her stool close to Waverly’s, much like they’ve recently started sitting in math class, and opens her book in front of her.  They go over history for about half an hour when she notices Waverly leaning into her more. 

That’s when she realizes that Waverly is probably cold.  She says, “I’m gonna go get you a sweater.” 

“It’s fine,” Waverly insists. 

“I’ve already told you I can’t have you cold on my watch,” Nicole replies. 

Waverly seems to consider it for a moment before she says, “I can go get it.  Where can I find one?” 

“My room is upstairs, first door on the left,” Nicole says. 

She notices how much colder it is with space between them as Waverly gets up to go to Nicole’s room.  In Waverly’s absence she reads over the parts of her notes that she’s been having trouble with, using the tips Waverly has given her to remember them.  A few minutes pass and she realizes that Waverly hasn’t made it back yet, probably having trouble finding a sweater to wear. 

Nicole gets up from her spot at the island and heads up stairs.  The bedroom light is on so she’s guessing that Waverly is still looking.  Either way, Nicole’s going to check on her.  She leans against the doorframe of her bedroom and peers in.  She immediately spots Waverly in her room, looking at all of the decorations. 

She can’t help smiling. 

“Everything ok?” Nicole asks. 

She steps more into the room, making her presence known.  Waverly turns to face her rather quickly, looking like Nicole just caught her red handed.  She really doesn’t know what Waverly could be looking at near her desk.  She doesn’t really have anything significant.  

“Shit,” Waverly says loudly.  She pushes back and knocks something over on Nicole’s desk.  She inhales sharply, turning the upper half of her body to look behind her.  Waverly’s hands are bracing her weight on the edge of Nicole’s desk.  She says again, “Shit.” 

Nicole steps closer and closer, her body almost taking control over her mind. 

She almost doesn’t know what she’s doing, her brain not quite processing her actions. 

Nicole’s standing in front of Waverly, hands falling to her hips. 

This gets Waverly’s attention. 

Waverly turns her head back to look at Nicole, their faces close enough together that their breath is mingling in the space between them. 

“It’s okay,” Nicole whispers. 

She leans forward, pressing her lips against Waverly’s without warning. 

Waverly stands still, not stiff as a board, but like her brain is trying to catch up.  Nicole doesn’t really blame her.  She actually was not cognizant in the moment and her brain is only coming to just now. 

She lingers there, waiting for some kind of idea of whether this is ok or not.  Feeling Waverly’s hands slide against her stomach, press into her skin, she thinks that’s her cue to give up the fight.  She applies less pressure, pushes her thumbs against Waverly’s hips as she begins to pull back.

Waverly’s fingers suddenly tighten, grasping her shirt and pulling it tight.  The material strengthens against her back.  She responds kindly, tapping her fingers against the cotton feeling of Waverly’s cheerleading skirt. 

Waverly surprises her with the power in which she pushes back. 

Nicole moves her foot back to balance them.  Her lips part beneath Waverly’s, tongue darting out and sweeping across her lips.  Waverly’s own mouth opens slightly, a muffled sound falling out of it that Nicole swallows. 

Pulling her hands back to Waverly’s hips, she steps back in an attempt to see if Waverly wants her to stop.  Waverly counters by pushing one hand up the length of Nicole’s torso.  She trails her fingers over Nicole’s neck, and Nicole feels a chill creep up her spine. 

Angling her hips into Waverly’s, she slides both hands beneath the hem of the sweater Waverly’s wearing.  Her skin is warm beneath Nicole’s touch, her palms pressing against Waverly’s ribcage and creeping up even more.  Her fingers dance, tips of her fingers sliding just beneath Waverly’s bra.  The cheerleading top has been ditched and Nicole appreciates Waverly’s decision. 

“Wait, wait,” Waverly whispers, pulling back. 

“What?” Nicole asks, chasing Waverly’s movements. 

“Wait,” Waverly repeats. 

“Yeah,” Nicole breathes, sliding her hands back down to the edge of desk, “Yeah.” 

“Wait,” Waverly says one more time.  Nicole lifts her head and looks at Waverly’s face, searching it for an answer.  Waverly’s hand shifts from Nicole’s neck to the bridge of her nose, and Nicole watches as she squeezes her eyes tightly together.  “I need to go home.” 

“It’s getting late,” Nicole agrees.  She doesn’t move right away, too afraid to just let it remain unclear.  She reaches up and grabs Waverly’s wrist, lightly pulling her hand away from her face.  She bends her knees a little to look Waverly in the eye.  She asks, “Are you ok?  Was that…?”

“I just need to go home,” Waverly says.  Waverly leans into her, forehead resting against Nicole’s chest.  Instinctively, she wraps her arms around Waverly, standing there like that until Waverly moves again.  She only slides her hands along Waverly’s back, keeping them splayed out.  Waverly looks up at her, lips swollen and eye lids heavy.  “I’m sorry.” 

“Hey,” Nicole says. 

She shakes her head softly. 

She feels Waverly’s lips on hers again, the movement chaste as she pulls back, immediately muttering, “No.  Drive me home.” 

“Ok,” Nicole agrees. 

Although confused, Nicole does as Waverly requests.  They gather up all of Waverly’s things and wordlessly put them away so Nicole can take her home.  During this time, all Nicole wants to know is if the kiss was ok or if Waverly felt something too.

She has a lot of questions but any time they are on the tip of her tongue, Waverly’s hands brush across her torso.  There are a few times between her room and when they get to the car that she thinks Waverly is going to kiss her again.  It doesn’t happen, despite Nicole wanting it to.

She opens the passenger door for Waverly to climb in and heads to the driver side.  The moment she’s in the car, Waverly starts rambling about some song on the radio.  It drowns out Nicole’s thoughts about what’s going on in Waverly’s head and only makes Nicole find Waverly even cuter than before.  She realizes on the drive over just how much she likes Waverly and when she pulls up to the McCready house she hops out without a second thought.

Waverly is trying to make a quick getaway, but Nicole just can’t let her.  She reaches out and catches Waverly by the wrist, intending to pull Waverly back to her and leave her with something that could possibly make her come back to Nicole.  Dead set on what she wants, she pulls Waverly back towards her but at the last second a noise from the direction of the house distracts her.

She lifts her head, seeing the outline of a body on the porch.  Instead of going in for a kiss, she manages to wrap Waverly up in a hug.  Waverly’s hands press against her stomach again, steadying there for a moment before they slide across Nicole’s waistline and hug her in return.

She’s kicking herself really hard when she’s pretty sure she feels Waverly grasp her in a rather desperate manner, like she too doesn’t want to let go.  Nicole feels a smile tug at her mouth and she says, “You have a good night, ok?”

What she wants to say is: I like you.

What she wants to say is: I’ll be thinking about you.

What she wants to say is: I wish you didn’t have to go.

Instead, she doesn’t say anything like that.

Instead, she leans into Waverly’s touch and revels in her embrace.

She spends all weekend thinking about it, about Waverly, about how good they could be together.


	4. Turnover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when everything goes right, it all goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for hanging in there. This is really just the beginning of it all, so hopefully you keep sticking it out with me.

Nicole bounces on her toes as her teacher quickly scans the paper in front of her.  Occasionally, she’ll use that red pen and Nicole cringes at the sight, but a smile ultimately tugs at the corners of her mouth.  She quickly counts from the last page to the front and writes a final number really big on the front sheet. 

It stands out in red. 

Nicole feels excitement flare up inside of her.  The teacher offers her congratulations on the hard work and hands over the paper, even though she isn’t supposed to.  Nicole immediately grabs her bag from the floor and takes off in a run, clutching the graded test in one hand. 

“You did it,” Nicole says, feeling a little short of breath as she runs up to Waverly’s locker, “We did it.” 

Waverly turns her attention from her locker and looks at the paper Nicole is holding up.  Her face spreads into a genuine smile, eyes crinkling.  She says, “You did it.” 

“Thank you,” Nicole practically screams.  She’s been thinking about Waverly all day, about what it was like to kiss her, but also knowing that she would do anything at this point not to disappoint her.  Besides, she hasn’t seen her all day.  She leans forward and quickly presses a kiss to the corner of Waverly’s mouth.  “I have to get to practice.” 

She takes off in another run towards the gym, determined to get there under the wire. 

 

 

 

 

Her parents come home on Christmas Eve.  

They immediately inform her of their arrangements to go on a cruise the day after Christmas. She honestly couldn’t care. In fact, at this point, she’s more disappointed that they’re home.

The down side to this is that after not getting to see Waverly after practice on Friday and the following days after, she’s barely even had a chance to text.

She gets it. Waverly’s Mom is home from her band, the Banditos, touring and Waverly not only needs to spend time with her, but she wants to. Nicole understands that not everybody has a family dynamic like hers.

Not to mention the fact that they’ve only kissed twice, if you could call it that. They’ve never really texted much anyway except to make arrangements on when and where they’re meeting to study. Nicole is just a little disappointed that they haven’t been able to talk.

It isn’t that she’s the type of person who needs a label, it’s that she thinks Waverly is.

When her parents get home, they start hounding her on the team’s one loss.

They ask her a ton of questions about her stats so far for the season, which is only 4 games, but they don’t ask about much else.

The one full day she gets to spend with them, Christmas, she has to forgo her usual workout regimen. Usually she goes on a 5 mile run and works out in the workout room they have in their house. After that, she goes to shoot around for an hour at the park. That is, when it isn’t too cold outside. The ball isn’t as bouncy on the snow.

Not once do they question her on her spending, not even the large cash withdrawals she’s been doing recently to pay Waverly for her tutoring services.

In addition to her parents not asking questions about anything not related to basketball, they give her some real over the top gifts. These gifts include a brand new Tag Heuer watch, a Xbox One X, a new Northface jacket, a bottle of Black Opium, and the title to her Land Rover. She knows these gifts are like hush money, a form of numbing solution for the fact that they’re never around.

She accepts the gifts with a thank you, learning a long time ago that they think what they give means a lot more than them being present.

Over dinner, she tells them about how her grades were slipping but Waverly started tutoring her and now she thinks she has them under control.

By the time she wakes up the next day, her parents have left from their cruise. Not a proper goodbye, a note, a phone call or a text message.

She brushes it off and goes on her pre-practice run, returning to her normal winter hiatus regimen.

 

 

 

 

Practice is only mildly distracting because the cheerleaders are practicing at the same time.

Because half of the team is out due to the holidays they are mostly doing conditioning and shooting around. Coach Lucado stays in the gym for the first half hour and the last half hour to oversee the conditioning, but gives them a 2-hour window to do as they please. Because Coach Lucado is on the premises, the cheerleaders are welcome to utilize the gym as well.

The cheerleading squad doesn’t have nearly as many people missing. Waverly is there because she’s the head cheerleader and she takes her role very seriously. Nicole notices that she’s come up with some new choreography moves and she thinks they look nice.

Nicole had been talking to Coach Lucado in her office when Waverly arrived at her coach’s request. She wanted to discuss the grade improvement and what to watch out for when they got back from break. She requested that Nicole takes her grades just as seriously the whole semester as she did the last 3 weeks of the last semester. She also wanted to give her a heads up on what games she knew for sure scouts would be at, but reminded Nicole that a scout could be at any game.

By the time they were out with the rest of the team, the cheerleaders had started their practice and Coach Lucado blew her whistle for conditioning to start.

So now, about an hour and a half into practice, she was waiting for Waverly to call a break for the cheerleaders.

She’s been watching the dynamic and is highly annoyed at the way Shae has been whispering negative things about Waverly to the other cheerleaders behind her back. She knows that Waverly isn’t stupid and is most likely fully aware that this is happening. She just wants to be there to give Waverly her full support and also hopes that she can hang around for a few minutes so they can talk.

Nicole gets distracted from her sprints and thinks it’s even hot when Waverly yells at someone else.

Once practice wraps up and everyone heads out of the gym, Nicole does her best to avoid Shae.  It’s harder than it looks. Shae is entitled enough that she thinks everything regarding what Nicole does revolve around her. It’s been her behavior all semester and the last time they broke up was back in August. She knows that hanging around Waverly hasn’t helped matters.  Shae is becoming desperate enough to try sinking her claws in.

She blows Shae off as quickly as possible.

She’s pulling on her jacket as she runs out of the gym, trying to catch up to Waverly. 

“Hey, Waverly,” Nicole says, loud enough for Waverly to hear her, “Wait up.” 

Waverly slows down, but when she turns her head to look at Nicole her jaw is clenched. 

“Whoa,” Nicole says, “What’s got you so mad?” 

Waverly sighs then, her shoulders slumping drastically, “It’s nothing.” 

“Come on,” Nicole says, a step behind Waverly as they continue to exit the gymnasium.  Waverly’s steps aren’t quite as quick as before she caught up with her, but she’s still someone with a quick stride.  She says, “What’s bothering you?” 

“I’m just making something out of nothing,” Waverly replies.  Her voice doesn’t sound certain in her words.  Nicole doesn’t say anything in the hope that Waverly will elaborate and tell her what the actual problem is.  “So, how was your Christmas?”

“It was fine,” Nicole says quickly.  She reaches forward and pushes the door to the building open.  The midday sun is blinding and bounces off of the snow, making her squint to see.   “Yours?”

“It was wonderful,” Waverly replies, “Thank you.”

Waverly looks around really quickly but stops, standing under the awning.

Nicole stops beside her and says, “Look, you have to put your foot down when it comes to Shae.”

Waverly looks at her sharply, mouth all cocked and ready to go.  Nicole shrinks a little, the cold from the air probably starting to get to her.  Waverly says, “I’m not the only one.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Nicole asks, “Why are you being like this?  Is it because I kissed you?”

“Nicole,” Waverly says, voice almost sounding defeated.

“Because you kissed me back,” Nicole argues.

“I know,” Waverly says, looking directly into Nicole’s eyes, “I know I did.”

“That has to mean something,” Nicole says softly.

She steps closer to Waverly, the toe of her shoe touching the toe of Waverly’s.  She lifts a hand and pushes at some hair that have fallen loose from Waverly’s ponytail, tucking the hair behind her ear.  Waverly hesitates then, all of the anger seeming to fade from her demeanor.

“Hey!” Comes a yell, followed by quadruple car horn hitting, “Come on, baby girl!  Don’t keep your fans waiting!”

Waverly pulls away very quickly, leaving her hands floating in the air.

“Fuck,” Nicole growls under her breath.

“Haughtstuff!” Wynonna yells out the window, throwing a wink her way.

Nicole waves back with one hand and scratches the back of her neck with the other.

She hears Wynonna start to tease Waverly, her laughter taking over the cab of the truck as Waverly shuts the door.

And Nicole forgot to give Waverly her present.

 

 

 

 

Nicole’s doing an extra suicide drill while the rest of her team is behind.  She’ll still finish before anyone else, and she will probably get in the 20 made free throws before anyone else finishes too.  Even with the extra suicide.

She’s on the last free throw line to baseline run when she looks over to see the entire cheerleading squad staring at her.

Nicole nearly trips over her feet, confused why everyone is staring at her.

She reaches the baseline and picks up a basketball, jogging to the free throw line.  She lines up, dribbling once and twice until she centers herself.  She looks over again, seeing that all of the cheerleaders are still looking at her.

Except for Waverly.

She sighs as she looks back at the goal.  She has to hit 20 in a row before she can go home.  Which should be easy for her.

She balances the ball on the palm of her right hand and guides it to the basket with her left.  She starts to leave the line to grab the ball when Shae runs out to grab it.  Shae dribbles onto the court, her shorts far too short for the temperature outside and Nicole sighs.

She’s fucking exhausted by Shae already.

“Hey,” Shae says, tossing her the ball, “I’ll be your ball retriever until someone else finishes.”

“Great,” Nicole mutters, catching the ball, “Thanks.”

She sighs as she lines up again, focusing her gaze on the basket before she leans back and fires another one.  It goes into the hole as well.  Shae catches it and tosses it back.

“You haven’t had a party in a while,” Shae says.

“Yeah I have,” Nicole says with a laugh.  She shoots another basket and it goes in.  She takes her focus off of the goal and look at Shae.  “You just weren’t invited.”

She smirks and looks back at the goal.

“Well,” Shae replies, voice not finding the amusement in Nicole’s statement.  She tosses the ball back to Nicole.  She says, “You should have another one.”

“Nope,” Nicole says.  She doesn’t even hesitate.  She dribbles the ball once, bends her knees, and sinks another one in.  “Not gonna happen.”

“Come on,” Shae hums, smiling too wide, “Your house is the perfect place.”

She sighs in annoyance, the ball bouncing on the gym floor.  Shae grabs the basketball and tosses it back to Nicole.  She gives up the fight.  She says, “My parents are home, sorry.”

The lie doesn’t really stick, she knows, and Shae knows it’s a lie, too.

Nicole looks away from Shae and makes another free throw.

“I should swing by and say hello then,” Shae replies cheekily.  She grabs the ball and passes it to Nicole again.

Nicole says, “Just give me enough warning so I can get out of there.”

She shoots it again and it goes in.  Shae grabs the ball.  She doesn’t pass it back to Nicole.  She carries the ball to Nicole, standing closer than necessary.

“Are you going to keep playing this game?” Shae asks, voice barely above a whisper.

“You’re the only one playing games,” Nicole says, taking the ball from Shae’s hand.  She doesn’t bother to wait for Shae to move out of the way, just bends her knees and sinks another one in.  “I already told you I’m not doing this anymore.”

Shae relents and turns on her heel to grab the ball again.

“Listen,” she says, passing the ball to Nicole again, “I know about your little fling with Waverly, but you’re going to get bored and fast.  That girl doesn’t do anything except stick her nose in a book. 

Nicole, although increasingly annoyed, leans back and makes another basket.  Shae retrieves the ball and passes it back to her.  She doesn’t bother saying anything in return, just releases a breath and shoots another one.  It goes in.

Shae grabs the ball and passes it back.  She passes harder than any of the other ones.  She says, “You’re wasting your time.”

She shoots it, makes it.

This time, she leaves the line to retrieve the ball for herself.  Shae nearly has it in her hands but Nicole grabs it before she can.  She tucks the ball under her arm and looks at Shae, stopping a foot from her.

“Say what you want about me,” Nicole says, voice a low warning, “But leave Waverly out of it.”

“You’ll see,” Shae replies.

Shae stalks off back to the rest of the cheerleaders.  Nicole watches her, eyebrows furrowed so low that she’s sure the anger can be seen on her face.  She sees Waverly and her anger starts to fade.  She manages a smile, one that Waverly only weakly returns.

Nicole returns to the line, quickly draining the last 10 free throws.

By the time she finishes, her teammates are finally coming over to give their free throws a go.  She hands over the ball and clears off of the court.  She goes to grab a drink of water, leaving her water bottle on the bench in the gym.

When Nicole comes back, the cheerleaders are wrapping up and working on their final choreography moves.

Waverly dismisses them and as Shae leaves she glares at Nicole.  Nicole dramatically rolls her eyes at Shae.  She goes over to where Waverly is standing, putting all of the things she brought to practice away.  Nicole finds it absolutely adorable that Waverly brought everyone snacks during practice.

“Hey,” Nicole says, smile immediately blooming on her face, “I wish our captain brought snacks.”

“Then bring snacks, dummy,” Waverly teases.  When she looks at Nicole she has a smile on her face.  Nicole practically melts, sitting down on the bench beside Waverly’s bag.  “Did you want some?”

Nicole is actually starving.  She didn’t have time this morning to eat anything, not that she has a lot of food options.  She nods to answer Waverly, immediately met with the option of something peanut butter.  Nicole loves peanut butter.

“This is delicious,” she says with a mouth full of food.

“My aunt made it,” Waverly says.

Nicole quickly swallows the food.

“Hey,” she says softly.  She reaches out and grabs Waverly’s hand.  Waverly responds by halting all of her movements, turning her body slowly to look at Nicole.  She tugs lightly, hoping that Waverly takes the hint and comes closer.  “I’ve been thinking, and I think you should come over for New Year’s Eve.”

“You know my mom’s here,” Waverly says.

She doesn’t sound like she’s saying no, doesn’t even sound like she’s heavily protesting.

“I know she is,” Nicole says.  She finally tugs her hard enough that Waverly ends up between her legs.  Waverly presses one palm against Nicole’s shoulder, keeping her full weight off of Nicole.  “But I think we need to talk.”

“I know we do,” Waverly says softly, “But I don’t know what my family has planned.”

“They won’t miss you for a few hours,” Nicole replies.  Truthfully, she misses Waverly.  She misses the way she saw her every day, the way Waverly would lean into her for warmth, the way she would hug Nicole.  But, most of all, she misses that laugh.  “Come on, I know you miss me." 

 _Way to turn it around, Haught_ , she thinks.

“You’re so cocky,” Waverly says.  Nicole holds her breath at the observation.  She feels Waverly’s hand slide down the front of her shirt, feeling the material.  She even feels Waverly relax her weight against her a little, and it’s this that makes Nicole feel confident enough to settle one hand against Waverly’s hip.  

“I miss you a teensy bit," Waverly admits.  Waverly pulls her hand from Nicole’s and lifts it between them, gesturing a tiny sliver of space between her thumb and forefinger.

Nicole exhales, a chortle of sorts coming out at the same time.

“I miss you a little bit more than that,” Nicole admits.  She feels her heart lurch into her throat.  She’s making herself vulnerable and she’s scared, suddenly, that Waverly is going to reject her. She can’t say she would blame Waverly.  “Don’t leave me to spend all night by myself.”

“Shae said you were having a party,” Waverly replies.

“Well, I told her no,” Nicole says, anger flaring up again.  She feels Waverly’s body slip against hers, her leg suddenly holding more weight.  Both of Waverly’s hand are on her, palms pressing into either clavicle. She forgets being angry.  “So, it’ll be just you and me.”

“Well,” Waverly says, thinking.  She realizes that Waverly is fully sitting on her lap, both hands pressed against her.  The way she’s bracing herself on Nicole, her arm wrapped around Waverly’s waist and fingers splayed out against a rather toned thigh, makes Nicole realizes how much she actually likes Waverly.  “I can maybe get away for a few hours.”

Her entire body relaxes.

They don’t have much more time to talk before Waverly leaves.

 

 

 

 

Waverly arrives at her house around 9pm.

After Nicole has offered water or tea, she accepted the water because she didn’t want Nicole to go through the trouble of making the tea, they head up to her bedroom.  Admittedly, Nicole finds the downstairs to be almost too dark and too big, like something is looming around her.  She doesn’t tell Waverly this, just strongly suggests that her bedroom is the most comfortable, and Waverly surprisingly agrees.

It’s in her bedroom that Waverly gives her the breakdown of how she knows everyone thinks she’s a prude, but admits that she has had sex on the first date.  Nicole isn’t sure if she’s just teasing her or what, not after Waverly winks.  Afterwards Waverly tells her that she has dated before.  She doesn’t go into details, but Nicole is aware of at least 2 boyfriends she witnessed with her own eyes back before Waverly was even a blip on her radar.

As Waverly starts telling her about her family dynamic, she realizes that Waverly really isn’t a prude at all.

Waverly tells her about Willa, her oldest sister who went off to college 3 years ago.  She shares a good memory of Willa.  A memory where Willa had taught her how to ride a bike.

Waverly tells her about Wynonna.  Nicole knows Wynonna, but she isn’t sure that Waverly realizes this.  She talks about Wynonna’s reckless spirit, and it’s clear to Nicole that she really loves her older sister.

Waverly tells her about her mom.  She talks about how her mom is a member of a band called _The Banditos_ and how they’ve been in the road for as long as Waverly can remember.  Nicole relates to the feeling of not having a parent around.

Waverly briefly mentions her dad, but it’s in passing.

After she’s finished her tea, she asks to use the bathroom.  Nicole points her to a door connected to her bedroom, a private bathroom that she doesn’t have to share with anyone.  It’s when Waverly returns that Nicole realizes Waverly is nervous.

Nicole is sitting on the edge of her mattress, waiting for Waverly to come back.  When she hears the door click with the sound of it opening she really starts to appreciate what Waverly is wearing.  She has on a black crop top shirt and a floral a cardigan over it.  Her hair is in waves and Nicole wonders how much effort she put into her appearance, if Waverly did this for her.

She has to admit; she went through efforts of her own to look nice for Waverly.  She chose a pair of maroon pants and a black long sleeve button up shirt that she’s rolled up her arms a bit, a pattern of the planets etched into the fabric.  She also comes loaded with the determination to find out whether they’re together or not.

They’ve spent the last hour talking about everything except what they need to talk about.

She makes a decision that she’s going to try something.

When Waverly steps closer, she reaches out for her. Nicole gently grabs her at the sides and pulls her down, pushing Waverly onto her back against the mattress. She follows the movements, hovering over her and searching her face for a response.

“Are you nervous?” Nicole asks, whispering like she’s trying not to wake anyone up.

“Yes,” Waverly admits.

“Me too,” Nicole says. Her hand is resting against Waverly’s stomach, thumb sweeping across the exposed skin between the hem of her shirt and the waistline of her pants. She feels fingers sliding through her hair, pressed against the nape of her neck. “I’m gonna kiss you.”

Nicole waits for Waverly to give her a go ahead, a signal that it’s something she’s ok with.

She gets her answer when Waverly threads her fingers through her hair and tugs lightly, pulling her down.

Slowly, she presses her lips against Waverly’s.  Her lips feel warm and they’re already parted in waiting.  Nicole takes this as a sign that maybe Waverly wants this as bad as she does.  She’s taken by surprise when Waverly’s tongue darts out and sweeps across her lip, and she quickly responds by offering Waverly the same treatment.

Being tugged down more, Nicole moves over Waverly.  She shifts her weight onto Waverly, hip bones pressing together as she does so.  She slides further down to straighten her bones, shirt riding up so her stomach flattens against Waverly and she feels skin on her own.

The kiss begins to deepen, Waverly’s hand slipping down to Nicole’s side and brushing over skin.  It tickles her a bit so she squirms, having to tear her lips away so she can breathe.  She lets her forehead rest against Waverly’s, noses barely touching.

“Are you still nervous?” Nicole asks, voice throatier than she intends.

“Are you?” Waverly whispers back.  Her breath is warm and it floats to Nicole’s face, kissing her skin.

“Terrified,” Nicole admits.

Waverly’s fingers trickle up her skin, sliding and scratching from her side to her lower back.

“Are you going to make me beg?” Waverly asks.

Nicole squirms again, stomach pressing harder against Waverly’s.  She looks into Waverly’s eyes, searching for questions she hasn’t asked or doesn’t know how.  She says, “For what?”

Waverly doesn’t answer her, just tilts her chin upward until Nicole feels their lips pressing together again.  The hands on her skin and the bite against her lip makes her whine, a shiver ghosting through her.  Waverly bows, their hips tapping together. It makes Nicole kiss her harder.

Nicole’s thumb lodges into Waverly’s rib and it makes her lower her back to the bed again.  The bed squeaks as Nicole digs an elbow into the mattress to move further up.  She feels Waverly’s hands grasp at her hips, guiding her down in a fluid motion.  The bed shakes with the movement, Waverly’s leg coming up and wrapping around the back of Nicole’s.

She has to pull back as a groan falls out.  She feels her body warm with embarrassment, cheeks flushing.  Waverly’s hands tug at her shirt.

“You’re really good at that,” Nicole husks.

Waverly smiles shyly, biting her lip like she’s trying to hide her smirk.  She says, “Then why’d you stop?”

“Cause I couldn’t breathe,” Nicole hears herself say, “I forgot how.”

Waverly laughs, loud yet reserved.

The laugh almost drowns out a noise coming from downstairs.

They both take pause, listening for something else.

“What was that?” Waverly asks, eyes slowly widening.

Nicole lightly shakes her head.  She can feel Waverly’s hand wrapped around her left arm and her leg wrapped around Nicole’s right leg.  She’s locked into the place she wants to be and the idea of having to leave it is daunting.

“I’ll go check it out,” Nicole whispers.

If she wasn’t terrified before, she certainly is now.

Waverly lets Nicole go as she pushes herself off of the bed.  Glancing back at Waverly as she heads for her open bedroom door, she reaches for something just inside her room.  She’s looking for anything substantial, but all she grabs is a belt hanging off of a chair.

She grasps it tightly in her right hand, readying herself for some form of protection.  She reaches the top of the stairs and looks down the expanse of them.  The front door is open so she stands there to watch.  She looks behind her again to see Waverly leaning against the doorframe, and when she looks back down the stairs she sees a handful of people walking through it.

They’re all people she recognizes, all carrying something party related that she didn’t ask for.

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” she growls.  She drops the belt to the floor and rushes down the stairs, leaving Waverly behind.  She rounds the banister and immediately heads towards the kitchen, the soles of her shoes echoing against the wood floor.  “What the fuck is going on here?”

“The party,” Shae says, “I let myself in with the key your parents gave me.”

“That’s not cool,” Nicole says.

“It is cool that they said we could have a party though,” Shae replies cheekily.

“What?” Nicole asks, confused.  She didn’t talk to them about a party.  She didn’t want a fucking party.  “What are you talking about?”

“They said it was cool when I called them to ask,” Shae says, hands on her hips.  She’s in a dress, calves showing.  It makes Nicole’s skin crawl the way she keeps charging around like she owns the place.  “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course I mind,” Nicole says, her voice extremely loud.

“I know you’ve been trying to get my attention,” Shae replies, “Now you’ve got it.”

“No,” Nicole says fast, turning on her heel and walking away, “Nope.  No way.”

“Oh, come on, babe,” Shae says, following her. 

“Bye,” Nicole huffs out.

As she heads back towards the stairs a flood of people meanders in through the front door.

“I texted you an hour ago that I was bringing a party,” Shae says.

Nicole turns sharply to look at Shae, her blood boiling so much that she can’t really see straight.

“I haven’t checked my phone,” Nicole says, “But I guess you just don’t understand that my life doesn’t revolve around you.”

“I know your game,” Shae replies, laughing lightly, “Quit using the poor girl.  She’s only going to get hurt.”

Shae has a smirk that seems to deepen and that’s when she notices that Shae is looking passed her.

She follows Shae’s gaze but doesn’t see what Shae is looking at.

“If you don’t stop,” Nicole starts, turning her head back to Shae, “You’re going to get hurt.  And you’re the only one who will be hurt.”

“Nicky-“

“Stop!” She yells, “I’m not doing this with you anymore.  So thanks a lot for trying to come between me and the only person I actually want to kiss.”

“Yeah, well, she just left without a goodbye,” Shae says, triumphant smile, “At least she’s smart enough to know when to throw in the towel.”

“God damn it,” Nicole snaps.

She turns towards the front door to see if she can catch Waverly before she’s too far gone.  She doesn’t see her.  She just sees a lot of other people heading into her house.

She turns and runs up the stairs, looking for her phone or her keys or something, anything to help her catch Waverly.

She immediately texts Waverly, asking where she went.  The text is read but ignored.  So Nicole does the only thing she can think to do.  She locks her bedroom door, puts on headphones and ignores the stupid fucking party downstairs...

Thinking about what she can do to get Waverly to stop running away from her.


	5. Swish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new year begins and Nicole makes a few resolutions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: This was the original end of chapter 1. So with that knowledge, I had intended to take a week off from posting for anticipation sake. What I did not intend to do was forget to post yesterday. In fact, someone asked me if I was going to and I said I was. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

**_JANUARY_ **

 

 

 

 

Nicole spends the first day of the year writing down resolutions.

Be a better student.

Be a better girlfriend.

Be a better person.

Between writing her resolutions, she overcomes her work out routine by tacking on an extra mile for her morning run.  An extra mile that turns into 3 extra miles as she runs by her house and sees that Shae’s car is still parked out front.  She finally gives up, spending 4 hours running without a breakfast and desperately needing a shower.

When she gets home, she immediately runs up the stairs and locks herself in her room until she knows it’s safe to come out.

The difficulty that Nicole’s having putting distance between her and Shae isn’t necessarily her fault.  She’s tried many times to tell Shae to leave her alone and, the truth is, it’s her fault for not breaking up with Shae a lot sooner.  They should have never dated for 2 years, especially when it turned into a game.

She understands why Shae would think of this as a game.

But she doesn’t want to be part of it anymore.

She spends the entire day thinking about Waverly, trying to work out where she went wrong.  She tries to think of the words to say.  She thinks about everything she could have done differently.  What she decides on is nothing.

The only thing she’s done right is Waverly.

She’s never lied to Waverly and she’s never toyed with her.

No, with Waverly she’s been pure honesty.

So, she goes into practice the following day with that in mind.

It’s the first mandatory practice of the year.  Her whole team is in desperate need of it since they have a game coming up in two days.  From the looks of it, Nicole would have to guess that a certain few haven’t exercised at all.

Practice starts and Nicole notices that Waverly hasn’t even shown up yet.  She keeps looking over at where the cheerleaders are waiting on the bleachers while she does her warm up stretches, 50 jumping jacks, 25 sit ups and 25 pushups.  They look impatient, especially with Shae taking up the role of their practice leader.

Nicole smirks at the way no one really seems to be listening to her.

Around the time she starts doing her first round of 10 suicides, she hears the gym door open.  Waverly comes in, shoes squeaking on the floor and her hair looking frazzled.  She’s wearing a jacket that looks incredibly warm, a pair of tight yoga pants.

She rushes over to the group of cheerleaders, apologizing profusely, loud enough that her voice echoes around the gym.  The cheerleaders start doing their stretches at Waverly’s command.  When Waverly peels off her jacket and Nicole sees that she’s wearing a shirt that has had the sleeves cut off, Nicole nearly trips.

She’s seen Waverly in the cheerleading uniform.  She’s even pressed her hands against Waverly’s stomach, feeling the taut muscles there.  But for some reason it just gets to her.

She steadies herself, focusing on running just a little bit faster.  She doesn’t get tired doing the suicides and when she’s done she has enough time to get a drink of water before the rest of her team finishes.  She’s in much better shape than the rest of them on a good day, but these conditions are the worst with the holidays resting on everyone’s shoulders.

Once the rest of her team begins finishing their suicide drills, Coach Lucado orders them to do wall sits.  There’s one other person on her team that’s even halfway decent at them and they usually turn this exercise into a competition.  It’s in these brief five minutes with Jen that she’s smirking and forgetting about the drama with Waverly.

When the competition is over she’s right back to thinking about it.

Her demeanor is slightly sluggish until Waverly locks eyes with her as Waverly plays the role of both coach and captain.

Mouth watering, Nicole briefly misses Coach Lucado telling them to break into teams of 5 for a full court scrimmage.

First team to 21 stays on the court.

Her team wins the first 2 games before they get a water break.

Her back is to the court and she’s sipping at the cold drink when she feels a hand lightly press against her shoulder.  She would think this is Shae but Shae is the type to make her presence a little more known.  However, Nicole doesn’t want to get her hopes up that it’s the person she actually wants to talk to. 

She turns slowly and breathes out a sigh of relief when she’s face to face to the one girl she actually wants to talk to.

“Hey,” Waverly says slowly, “Can I borrow you for a minute?”

Nicole internally screams yes, but takes a quick look at her coach for confirmation first.  Coach Lucado, an observant bystander in Nicole’s life, has picked up on Nicole hanging around Waverly.  Coach Lucado mentioned it in passing but she totally endorsed it, so Nicole isn’t entirely surprised when she sees the slightest of nods from her.

“Sure,” Nicole says.  She steps away from her team and follows Waverly off to the side of the court, beside the home team bleachers.  She knows she should let Waverly speak first but she has so much to get off of her chest.  “I should have followed you.”

Despite her better judgement, she reaches out and places her free hand on Waverly’s elbow.

“I, um, I didn’t want you to,” Waverly replies softly, “And, don’t worry, Wynonna already read me the riot act.”

“I was worried,” Nicole says, “You ran out of there so fast.”

“I just thought that you invited me over and lied to me about a party,” Waverly admits.

“I didn’t,” Nicole says quickly.  Coach Lucado blows the whistle and Nicole audibly groans.  She steps forward, closing the space between them before she remembers she’s really sweaty already and adds space back, and then some.  “I didn’t lie to you.  I haven’t lied to you.”

She pauses for only a second and hears the whistle again.  She looks up quickly, gaze narrowing on Coach Lucado who is now staring at her pointedly.  She says, “I have to go, but please just give me a chance.”

“Ok,” Waverly says softly, “Ok.”

Nicole leaves reluctantly.  She sets her bottle on the bleachers and sprints onto the court.  Coach Lucado starts telling them what she wants them to do but Nicole doesn’t hear it, gaze on Waverly as she returns to her cheerleading squad.

Two years with Shae and not a single time had she been distracted by her in practice.

Practice drags on after that.

Her teammates are dragging ass in the last half of practice, the remaining 2 hours leaving nearly everyone else but her too sore to move.  Their practices aren’t normally this long but they aren’t meeting again until the game so Coach Lucado is packing in a little extra time.  Nicole thinks that even though the rest have slowed down a bit that they still have their conditioning enough under wraps that they can win the game without getting tired.

When Coach Lucado calls practice, she hangs around to chat idly with her team for a bit.  She drinks another bottle of water as they all talk about their holidays and their boyfriends, mostly.  She doesn’t feel like she has much to add to the conversation presently, but maybe she’ll have more on the subject next time.

She lingers for a bit, until Coach Lucado calls one of her teammates to the office.  After that, the rest of her team begins to disperse and head for the door.  She looks over at the cheerleaders to see Waverly doing a gesture that indicates she wants them to do it one more time.  She lingers on the other side of the court for just a bit before she heads over to where they are.

She meanders nearby, stretching and pushing up onto the tip of her toes until she can get closer to Waverly scot free.

“Can I ask you something?” Waverly says softly as Nicole sits on the first bench up from the bottom of the bleachers.

“Of course,” Nicole says.  She leans back, elbows pressed against the hard wood as she relaxes.  Maybe a little too easily, considering.

“Did you know that she was going to do that?” Waverly asks.

She shakes her head in response.

Nicole realizes that Waverly’s busying her hands, training her eyes elsewhere.  She has a bottle of water in one hand and a towel in the other, pushing it across her skin trying to wipe off the barely there sheen of sweat.  Nicole’s heart lurches into her throat.

She pushes off of the bench and leans forward.  Stretching almost as far as her arm can go, she manages to get a hold of Waverly’s hand that has the towel in it.  She tugs her forward and she’s pleasantly surprised when Waverly steps up to sit beside her on the bench.

“Look, Waverly,” Nicole starts.  She turns her body to fully face her, inching forward on the bench until her knee touches Waverly’s.  She grasps Waverly’s hand now that she’s finally looking at her.  “Shae is just...she’s jealous of you.  You have everything she wants.  You have the better grades.  Head cheerleader.  Me.”

“What?” Waverly says almost confused by Nicole’s statement.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but I like you, Waverly,” Nicole says, “I like you more than I’ve ever liked anyone.  If you don’t like me back then I understand, but it certainly didn’t feel like you don’t like me back.”

“Of course I like you,” Waverly says quietly, “I just...”

“You,” Nicole says.  She blows out a really shaky breath as she lifts her other hand.  She pushes her fingers into Waverly’s hair, dragging her hand until she can press her palm against Waverly’s jaw.  “You’re the only person I’ve ever been one hundred percent honest with.  I think you’re really good for me, and I think I’m good for you, too.”

“You do, do you?” Waverly asks, smiling for the first time since Nicole’s seen her today.  Nicole drops her hand from Waverly’s face, letting her hand rest against Waverly’s knee.

“I do,” Nicole confirms, “So I’ve been thinking you should be my girlfriend and I can be yours.”

“You’ve been doing a lot of thinking,” Waverly replies.

“I even wrote a list of resolutions,” Nicole smirks.  They sit there for a moment, looking at each other.  Nicole wants to kiss her again but she also wants to find out if it’s ok.  “Is that a yes?”

“God,” Waverly mutters.  She watches as Waverly lifts her head, tilting her chin to the ceiling.  Waverly sighs loudly and looks back at Nicole, like she’s just steeled herself for how this answer may go.  “Are you and Shae really over?”

“My parents gave her a key for some stupid reason,” Nicole grumbles, a little more annoyed than she intends, “But we can just lock my bedroom door to keep her out.”

Waverly laughs sympathetically but shakes her heads like that isn’t the answer she’s looking for.

“I’ve told her I’m done with her,” Nicole says, “Privately and publically.  I can’t make her go away but I can give you all the public displays of affection that you want.”

“Do you make that promise to all the girls?” Waverly teases.

“Absolutely not,” Nicole says, hoping her tone inflicts promise.  She gives Waverly a smile before she stands up and moves down to the floor.  She keeps hold of Waverly’s hand as she does this, turning to face her.  “I only ever make promises like that when it’s a girl I really like." 

“So, I’ve been thinking,” Waverly says slowly.  Nicole watches as she stands from her spot on the bench and stands on the seating part of the bench.  Nodding encouragingly, she steps forward to lift Waverly’s hand to her shoulder.  She stares up at her, really liking the way Waverly’s face looks from this angle.  “I think you should be my girlfriend and I can be yours.”

“Yeah?” Nicole asks.

Waverly puts her other hand on Nicole’s shoulder and leans heavily against her.  Nicole places both of her hands on Waverly’s waist, pressing just above the hips.  Waverly nods slowly, shifting her upper body weight onto Nicole’s chest.

“Are you gonna kiss me?” Nicole asks, tilting her chin up more.

“You’re awfully needy for a player,” Waverly teases.

“Former player,” Nicole corrects, “And I’m still waiting.”

Waverly gives her a big, dramatic eye roll.  She pushes her hands around Nicole’s neck and leans down, Nicole parting her lips in anticipation.  It takes longer than Nicole wants so she does a little to speed the process up, pushing up on her toes and slanting her lips against Waverly’s.

She pushes her hands around Waverly’s thin waist and engulfs her body in her arms.  She lifts Waverly from the bench and takes a half step back.  She kisses Waverly the entire time she lowers her back to the ground, only parting from their kiss so she can get rid of the ache forming in her tired bones.

Waverly’s phone starts ringing in her bag and it makes Nicole feel warm when the response to it is a loud groan from Waverly’s mouth.  She says, “That’s probably Wynonna.”

Waverly starts to pull away, body angled at the direction of the ring.  Nicole puts on her best pout.  She tugs Waverly back to her and says, “Just a little bit longer.”

Nicole’s able to entice Waverly back into her arms for a hug until Waverly gets another phone call from Wynonna.

 

 

 

 

Nicole’s legs are bouncing as she waits in her car out front of Waverly’s house.

After they left the gym, they texted a little throughout the time they haven’t seen each other.  Nicole has never been a big texter, but the form of communication is the only one they’d had.  Lucky for her, Wynonna is going to take the Jeep so Waverly asked to get a ride to the school for the game and a ride back home after it.

Waverly finally comes out of her house, Pom poms in hand, clad in that tiny little uniform that looks so good on her, and heads to the Land Rover.  She makes sure to turn up the heat as Waverly heads her way, the vents blowing out even warmer air.  Waverly pops open the door, big yet apologetic smile on her face.  She climbs in quickly and closes the door, holding her pale hands in front of the vent.

“Thanks for coming to get me,” Waverly says, smiling over at her.

“Of course,” Nicole replies.  She hears her own voice, sickening sweet, and quickly turns her gaze out of the front windshield.  She doesn’t know why she’s feeling so nervous, but she is so she just focuses on driving them safely to school.

Waverly starts telling her about some book on history she’s been reading.  Something, something, ancient artifacts.  She’s trying to listen but she gets stuck on some of the words, saying words bigger than she’s ever heard.  She pulls up to the only stoplight between Waverly’s house and the school to see a smile on Waverly’s face that is absolutely adorable.

When they pull up to the school, there’s only a few cars in the parking lot.  Waverly is still talking about her book as she parks close where the bus is positioned.  Nicole really wishes she knew what this stuff was but it’s still interesting.

She swallows thickly now that she doesn’t have an excuse to not look over at her.  When they glance at each other at the same time, it hits her.  Her mouth splits into a smile, the most genuine feeling she’s had on her mouth in a long time.

“Are you nervous?” Nicole asks, “It’s just, you ramble when you’re nervous.”

“Sorry,” Waverly mutters, smiling shyly.

“No,” Nicole says slowly, reaching out for Waverly’s hand.  Her fingers are still ice cold so Nicole pulls it between both of her hands to try warning it up.  “It’s cute.”

“Shut up,” Waverly murmurs, blushing.

“What?” Nicole says, laughing softly.  It still bounces off of the interior off of the car, a light hum coming from the radio with the volume so low that she can’t even hear the song.  She tilts her head at Waverly, looking at her as she leans against the center console.  “I can’t call my girlfriend cute?"

“You’re really latching on to this girlfriend thing,” Waverly says, smile both shy and teasing. 

“Hey, you’re the one who asked me, remember?” Nicole replies.  Waverly rolls her eyes playfully.  Nicole smirks back.  “Besides, that’s like the first time I’ve said that.” 

“We should probably get on the bus,” Waverly says.

Nicole loosens her grasp on Waverly’s hand, warmer now, and takes a look around.  More cars have gathered around them and people are starting to get out.  Her windows darkened enough that as Shae walks by her car she can’t see in any of the windows but she still looks over her shoulder and in through the front windshield.  Nicole stifles a laugh as she watches Shae nearly trip over her own feet.

“Yeah,” Nicole says slowly, “You’re right.” 

They get out of the car.  She has to take an extra moment to grab her bag out of the back seat.  Doing this as quickly as possible, she locks her car and shoves her keys into her bag.  She slings the bag over her shoulder and runs to catch up to Waverly.  

Instinctively, she wants to press a hand against Waverly’s back to alert her of Nicole’s presence, but she’s still feeling too nervous to initiate contact.  This is honestly a new feeling for her, being nervous with a girl.  It’s a surprise to her that Waverly is the cause of it and that really seemed to sneak up on her quickly, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.  

She follows Waverly onto the bus.  Waverly chooses a seat in front of where Shae is sitting, which Nicole is fine with.  However, she can feel Shae’s annoyed gaze planted on her.  

The bus ride to the game is going to be close to 2 hours so she tries her best to settle in comfortably, settling in to the seat beside Waverly.  She’s closest to the aisle, so she scoots more towards the middle, her thigh pressing against Waverly’s.  She sucks in a deep breath, wondering why she feels so nervous.  Maybe because no one has ever had her like this.  

Other people start climbing onto the bus.  Nearly every single one of her teammates starts talking to her whenever they pass her.  When one of them sits beside her on the other side and starts talking to her, she feels guilty.  

She feels guilty because she’s done a lot of thinking about what this bus ride would be like and she never imagined she would feel this nervous.  She imagined she would be able to hold Waverly’s hand, wrap an arm around her, or something.  Not what she’s doing now, rubbing her hands together as she listens to her teammates babble about something.  

She misses Waverly’s chatter about ancient history that she can’t follow.  

Her teammates start talking to each other and she turns her attention back to Waverly.  

She gets caught in looking at her.  Waverly’s not paying attention, looking out of the window and watching everyone get dropped off to load onto the bus.  Nicole thinks about how cold Waverly’s hand were in the car.  She stands up at this and takes her jacket off.  When she clutches her jacket in her right hand, she angles her body towards Waverly and pulls up her leg onto the seat.  

She lifts her left hand and slides it along the back of the seat.  She watches her hand as she moves, noting that her fingers look a little shaky, and exhales to steady herself.  It doesn’t work, and she doesn’t know what exactly is going on with her.  She sweeps at Waverly’s hair, dragging her fingers through it all the way to the tips.  

She rolls a lock of Waverly’s hair in between her fingers.

“Hey,” she whispers, “Here’s my jacket.”  

“Nicole,” Waverly chastises, “You’re going to be cold.”  

“I’ll be fine,” she replies.  She’s wearing a long sleeve button up shirt that’s extra thick, and she has a long sleeve Henley on under it.  Mostly because she was hoping that she would get to do something chivalrous like take her jacket off and give it to her girlfriend.  “Trust me, I run hot.”

Waverly looks like she hears the joke there but Nicole knows her to be too nice to say it.  It’s one of the things she loves about Waverly.  She smiles when she takes the jacket from Nicole, whispering her thanks.

Nicole expects it to end there.

She turns her head towards the front of the bus as Waverly cuddles up in her jacket, watching everyone else file on rather quickly.  She gets another dirty look from Champ, who eyes her and in addition eyes Waverly as he passes.  Nicole realizes she’s making a few enemies by being with Waverly, but she couldn’t care less.

She feels a warmth on her cheek and turns slightly, her skin meeting Waverly’s poised lips.

The kiss pressed against her skin lingers.

When Waverly pulls back, she realizes that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.

Not when Waverly makes her feel like she can be a good person.

“What was that for?” She whispers, leaning into Waverly’s kiss.  Her eyes connect to Waverly’s and she’s overcome with the desire to be closer.

“That was for being so nice to me,” Waverly says softly.

Nicole absently thinks back to her time with Shae.  They often didn’t even sit beside each other on the bus.  She sat next to her teammates and Shae sat with Jasmine.  She can’t remember ever taking her jacket off for Shae to wear.  She really was a lousy girlfriend to Shae who just might have been a lousy girlfriend back.

“Well,” Nicole says, smiling as she reaches onto Waverly’s lap and finds the hand closest to her, “Now you’ll just have to keep me warm.”

Waverly removes her hand quickly and Nicole stops breathing, stilling her movements for fear that she did something wrong.  She can’t manage a glance down at Waverly’s face, just stares out of the window on the bus for the last straggler heading towards the vehicle.  Waverly’s fingers slip between hers, resting on her leg just above the crook in her knee, and she breathes again.

Coach Lucado boards the bus pretty soon after.  Once she’s settled in the bus starts moving.  The sun is still shining outside and the bus is surprisingly right on schedule, leaving at 4:15.  This is the furthest game of the season and it’s against probably the hardest team they’re going to play.

“Hey,” Waverly says, squeezing her hand, “Are you nervous?”

“Yeah, a little,” Nicole admits.  She tilts her head slightly as she looks at Waverly, eyes studying her face.  She sighs as she turns her body to face forward again, putting both feet on the floor but pressing their knees together.  She switches the hand clutching Waverly’s.  “But, I’m not worried.”

Some time passes as she gets roped into some conversation with her teammate beside her.  During this conversation, somehow, she realizes that Waverly has let go over her hand.  She tries to think back and ultimately decides it was her fault.  She let go to talk with her hands, probably.  She ropes in another of her teammates by asking their opinion and lets them start talking amongst themselves.

She checks her watch and notices that they have about half an hour left of the bus ride.

She doesn’t want things to feel awkward with Waverly.  She attributes it to the newness, to the fact that even though they’ve known each other for as long as she can remember they’ve only recently ventured into this affection thing.  She’s never really been good at showing affection.

She’s trying.

She really is.

Nicole leans her shoulder against Waverly’s which prompts Waverly to look over at her.

She offers her a smile and says, “We’ll be there soon.”

Waverly pouts in response.  She thinks she’s just being polite until she feels Waverly’s hand on hers.  She feels Waverly thread their fingers again.  She finds her hand in Waverly’s lap, Waverly’s other hand coming to her wrist and etching shapes into her exposed skin.

“You’re going to do great,” Waverly murmurs.

The rest of the bus ride is pretty quiet.

Before sitting next to Waverly she had a routine of listening to music.  She definitely needed the study help on the bus ride that Waverly was giving her but they don’t have any work to busy them.  Nicole can tell that Waverly is nervous, too, but she hasn’t started rambling yet.  Conversation between them has been difficult because she doesn’t know what they should talk about in public versus alone. 

She really isn’t good at this relationship stuff.

When they finally park the bus out front of the school, she doesn’t stand up like the majority of people.  She scoots closer to Waverly, letting everyone else file off first.  She gets those dirty looks from both Champ and Shae as they unload, this time Champ’s gaze zeroing in on their hands.  Nicole smirks as she lifts a challenging eyebrow.

She gets up slowly and reaches for her bag.  She slings it over her shoulder as Waverly stands up, trying to offer her jacket back.  She steps close enough to Waverly that she can rest her hands on the seats.  Nicole lightly shakes her head. 

She says, “You keep it.”

Nicole sees that Waverly can’t help but smile.  That makes Nicole feel better, like whether she go into this game and win or lose she’s going to have that smile to make her feel better.  She feels really lucky.

“Thank you,” Waverly says.  She steps towards Nicole, and pushes up onto her toes.  Nicole feels Waverly’s lips press against hers, quick and fleeting, but something to keep her going.  “And if anyone asks, I’ll just tell them my girlfriend loaned it to me.”

Nicole feels her insides turn to goo at that.  She’s pretty certain she has a really stupid smile on her face right now, showing those dimples and all.  She says, “I would really like that.”

A few people are still exiting the bus and Nicole offers Waverly her hand to follow suit.

She half expects Waverly to let go of her hand as they get off of the bus but, when she doesn’t, Nicole remembers that Waverly is actually really good at the affection thing.

In fact, they get all of the way into the gym before Waverly let’s go of her hand.

She wants to linger there, but instead just holds Waverly’s hand as long as possible until she has to let go.  She’s a good 10 feet behind Coach Lucado so she knows she really can’t linger, especially if she makes it into the room much later behind Coach Lucado.  She can’t go on and start making mistakes with basketball just because Waverly is her girlfriend.  If anything else, she’s certain she will find comfort in being with someone so supportive.

She turns quickly when she reaches the end of the hallway to glance at Waverly again, getting a smile when she does.

Admittedly, she’s distracted when she should probably be more focused but she really can’t help it.

She makes it to the locker room where half of her team is halfway to getting ready, while the other half has at least started.  She changes silently, no really jumping in on the team’s predictions on how this game might go.  She knows she should use the opportunity as captain to give them a pep talk, but she’s back to her determined and focused thoughts about Waverly.

She shakes her head, trying to turn her thoughts away as she pulls on her navy blue uniform with their mascot, _Demons_ , scrawled across it.  She wears navy blue ankle socks, the Nike brand that has compression guarantee, and a blue Under Armour tank top that claims to be dri-fit.  She double checks her bag for her spare change of clothes and toiletries (applying her deodorant for good measure) before sitting down to put her shoes on.  Once she does that, she stuff everything into her bag and zips it up.

Her team finishes getting ready pretty close to the same time.  This is rare.  Usually when she makes it into the locker room first she’s done at least 5 minutes before everyone else.  Maybe she’ll trail behind, work at being that better girlfriend thing, more often.

The team walks out of the locker room and heads towards the court.  They all line up in their pre-game warmups of the layup drill.  After the layup drill, they go to a free throw drill.  In no time does their pre-game stretch run out. 

The game starts like a horse out of the gate.  By the end of the first quarter they’re down by 12 and Nicole can tell that some of her teammates are already tired.  She realizes that she will have to step up more, even though she already has as many points as her team is down by.  Throughout the second quarter, she’s able to stop as many fast breaks as she possibly can by herself with 3 steals and a block while taking on 8 more points.  They are within 3 points by the time they break for half time. 

She downs an entire bottle of water during half time.  She also heeds Coach Lucado’s silent warning of ignoring the cheerleaders all together during this time.  She does this as best as possible, going to her bench and beginning to stretch so she stays limber.  When she looks up, Waverly is glancing at her and all she does in return is smile weakly. 

The second half starts back up and her coach’s speech has seemed to invigorate her team.  Everyone is operating on all cylinders and Nicole no longer feels like she has to carry them.  They work together and that leads them to the final minute where each team takes turns getting the lead at least 3 times.  The entire gym is focused and interested, engaged for nearly the entire game. 

Nicole pulls out a 3-pointer in the last 4 seconds that gives them the win. 

She ends the game breathless, standing still at the sound of the buzzer.  Everyone erupts around her in excitement and she can’t even think clearly.  In fact, she isn’t even sure that she’d bade the basket until she’s firmly hit in the chest and it nearly knocks the wind out of her. 

“Oh my god,” Nicole hears, “That was intense.” 

“Did it go in?” Nicole mutters. 

Her brain registers slowly that there’s a pair of arms around her middle and she pulls back to look down. 

She sucks in a deep breath, lungs filling with air, and manages to slip her arms around a pair of shoulders. 

“Yes,” Waverly exclaims, pulling away from the hug and lifting both hands to Nicole’s face so quickly that she still can’t wrap her brain around, “Baby, you did it!”

“What?”  Nicole says.  Her brain sticks on the way her body reacts to Waverly’s words.  Without thinking, she bends her knees and pushes her mouth against Waverly’s.  It’s brief, but she’s chalking these things up to a win.  She pulls back, panicking.  She says, “Oh, shit, was that okay?” 

“You don’t have to be afraid with me,” Waverly reassures, “I like you, Nicole.”

“Ok,” she says in response.  She still feels breathless.  She remembers that she still has to shake the other team’s hands so she puts some space between them.  “I’ll be right back.”

She rushes over to get into line and shakes hands with the other team.  They are all gracious and smiling.  By the time she finishes shaking hands, Waverly is gone.

She stinks anyway.

She goes into the locker room and showers, putting on the clothes she had on before.

When she makes her way back into the gym, the boys’ game starts in less than 3 minutes.  She doesn’t really have much time to talk to Waverly again, but when this game is over they are stopping for a bite to eat.  Not to mention the 2-hour bus ride back.

She lounges during the boys’ game, mostly ignoring it.

During half time the other team’s cheerleaders put on a show.  It’s a decent choreography, considering.  Halfway through the cheerleaders from her team, including Waverly, climb into the bleachers.  The clatter is quiet and polite so they don’t ruin the halftime show.

Nicole sits up straight from her lounging position as Waverly comes up to sit by her.  Chrissy is close by, sitting on the other side of Waverly.  Nicole offers her a polite smile, but they don’t chat.

Feeling a bit more secure in how Waverly feels about her, Nicole wraps an arm around Waverly’s shoulders and pulls her closer.

They don’t chat very much, just exchange promises of catching up after the game before Waverly, Chrissy and the rest of the cheerleaders go back to their post on the sideline.

After the game is over they all file onto the bus.

The bus driver takes them to a McDonald’s about 10 minutes from the school they played at where everyone races to exit the bus and be first in line.  Nicole waits in line with Waverly.  While waiting, Waverly tells her about how she tries to eat healthy and that she’s been thinking of going vegan.  Nicole laughs at the idea, already planning on ordering one of the disgusting looking quarter pounders with some fries.

Once they order their food, Waverly goes to find a table for them to sit at while Nicole waits for the food.

She finally gets the tray of food and sets off to look for Waverly.  Mostly everyone else at the table Waverly is sitting at already has their food.  The table is full with Chrissy and Waverly on one side and Stephanie and Jen on the other.  Waverly smiles apologetically at her but scoots closer to Chrissy on the bench to make room.

Waverly looks adorable bundled up in Nicole’s jacket so she can’t really protest finding a chair to sit at the end of the table.  She’s grateful her teammate is sitting here so she isn’t going to be completely overwhelmed with cheerleading chatter.  She remembers what the politics was like when she sat with Shae and her half of cheerleader friends.  Then again, Nicole hasn’t really hung out with Waverly and her friends.

When she sets the tray down and slides into the tiny space, she feels Waverly lean against her left arm while reaching for some of her fries.  Nicole just sighs in response, figuring she should have expected that Waverly would steal some her fries.  That’s what girls always do.  She relents easily.

“So, how did this happen?” Chrissy asks.  Nicole notices that she’s gesturing wildly between her and Waverly.  If she’s honest, she wouldn’t even know how to explain.

“Chrissy!” Waverly hisses.

“What?” Chrissy says defensively, “Are you saying I shouldn’t be blindsided by this?”

“I already told you,” Waverly says, voice low.

Nicole just laughs.  She says, “No, you should be.  I was.”

“See?” Chrissy says, a triumphant smile pointed at Waverly.

“Let’s just say,” Nicole says, lifting a fry, “I’m an idiot.”

“That’s true,” Jen agrees.

“Thanks,” Nicole grumbles, tossing that fry across the table.  She reaches for another fry and finally gets to eat one, stomach screaming at her.  She chews and swallows.  “Thanks for your history notes, by the way.”

She looks at Chrissy who just shrugs in response.

Nicole goes back to eating her food, not even blinking when Waverly keeps stealing her fries.  Eventually they finish eating and Nicole settles her hands in her lap.  She notices Waverly yawning and once she yawns starts leaning more against Nicole’s arm.  She feels Waverly’s hand fall into her lap and she turns her hand over so they can press their palms together. 

About another 10 minutes passes where Chrissy, Jen and Stephanie talk about Nicole’s party tomorrow.  The party that Nicole doesn’t even care about having anymore.  She would much rather just spend her birthday alone with Waverly, but she agreed to having it a month ago before she even started getting tutoring.  She figures she will just go along with it this last time then so no each additional time.  If that’ll work.

Everybody starts getting up and, as the walk back to the bus, Nicole wraps her arm around Waverly’s shoulders.  She pulls her close and Nicole tries to keep Waverly warm, which is harder to do now that it’s colder outside and she doesn’t really have a jacket.  Waverly might even be warmer than her with two jackets on.

She only lets Waverly go so they can climb onto the bus and return back to their seat in front of Chrissy and Stephanie.

“I’ll get in first so you can lean against me,” Nicole suggests.  Waverly nods her head slowly, like she’s reluctantly complying.  Waverly pulls off Nicole’s jacket and clutches it in one hand.  Nicole sits down and stretches along the seat, pulling one leg up and bending it so other people can walk past.  Waverly slides onto the bench between her legs and drapes the jacket over her own legs, pulling them up as she leans back against Nicole’s chest.  “Comfy?”

Waverly nods and Nicole wraps her arms around her, realizing that she’s never felt so close to another person.

She’s only been Waverly’s girlfriend for 2 official days but already knows that she likes her so, so much.

The bus starts moving and within 15 minutes of being on the road, Waverly falls asleep.

The position is a little uncomfortable but she isn’t surprised given that the seats are incredibly small.  The weight on her chest is nice and keeps her warm from the cold, night air.  It’s nice being this comfortable with Waverly, especially since just a few hours ago she was feeling nervous.

There’s even a few times that she thinks she might have fallen asleep herself.

When the bus parks the silence quickly dissipates.  Everyone is roused and Nicole has to wake Waverly up.  Her chest aches at the thought of disturbing her and she wishes she could just carry her to the car.  She doesn’t think she has the energy for something like that though.

When Waverly wakes up, Nicole notes she gets a little bit clingy.  Nicole welcomes the fact that Waverly seems to keep touching her in some way in her tired state, if not by leaning against her then holding her hand or touching Nicole’s leg.  Waverly tiredly leads her off the bus and towards her car that she started as soon as the bus parked.  She hopes it’ll be warm enough.

When they get into the car, Waverly is too tired to talk.  She doesn’t blame her.  She’s tired, too.

They get to Waverly’s house and she hops out, leaving the car running.  When she gets around the vehicle, she reaches for Waverly’s hand.  There’s still snow on the ground and it surrounds them, the air even colder now that they’ve been graced with the heat in the car. 

Waverly walks a little faster than her and she slows her down by tugging on her hand.

“Don’t be in such a hurry to get away from me,” she teases.

“I’m not,” Waverly hums, fighting off another yawn, “I would invite you in but I’m having to share a bed with Wynonna while Mama’s here and I would probably get into trouble.”

She feels Waverly’s hands press against her stomach, fingers splaying out against her ribs.  Nicole smiles, barely able to see Waverly’s face in the reflection of the moon off of the snow.  She says, “You?  In trouble?”

“You’re trouble,” Waverly says softly.

“I’ll be better,” Nicole says. She feels serious all of a sudden, like she realizes she will do anything it takes to keep Waverly in her life.  She lifts her hands to Waverly’s hips and rests them there.  “For you.”

“I like you the way you are,” Waverly says.

“Yeah?” She breathes, not sure if she can allow herself to believe that.  She’s never really had someone like her for her.  Maybe Shae did at first, or maybe she never did at all.  Waverly nods and pushes her hands across Nicole’s stomach to envelope her into a hug.  “I like you too, Waverly Earp.”

“Good,” Waverly says.

She tilts her head up to look at Nicole and she immediately looks back.

Nicole quickly leans down and gives Waverly a chaste kiss.  She says, “Ok, you better go to bed.  I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Ok,” Waverly agrees, eye lids already drooping, “Good night.”

Overall, she’s had the best day getting to be Waverly’s girlfriend.


	6. Fast Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole's birthday might just be the best one yet.

Waverly shows up at her house right on time, an hour and a half before the party is set for.

However, Waverly’s demeanor is off.  Something is bothering her and Nicole hasn’t really been able to get her to say much of anything.  Of course Nicole has been waiting to ask, waiting until Waverly doesn’t seem to be picking through her room to distract herself.

Nicole waits patiently from her seat on the bed.  She’s on the edge at the foot of the bed, legs crossed at the ankles.  Her shoes are her pair of black boots with her maroon pants, her black button up shirt having an interesting design of green triangles.  She busies herself with the sleeves, rolling them as perfectly as she can manage while being distracted.

“Waverly,” Nicole finally says, voice as warm as she can manage, “Is something wrong?”

The present Waverly wrapped is sitting on the desk, untouched.  She doesn’t want to open it until she knows what’s wrong.  She also doesn’t want to open it in front of anyone else.

“You could tell?” She says, voice sounding defeated.

“Is it me?” Nicole asks.

“What?” Waverly says sharply.  Nicole watches the panic rise as Waverly looks at her.  She looks confused, maybe even shocked.  Waverly quickly abandons her task of sifting through stuff around Nicole’s bedroom to cross to the bed.  “No.  How could you say that?”

Waverly practically throws herself on the bed beside her.  She feels Waverly’s hand reach out and brush over hers.  She begins to turn her hand, their fingers bumping together as they try to get simpatico.

“I don’t know,” Nicole admits, “I’m just waiting, I guess, for you to decide you’re too good for me.  Because you are.”

“It isn’t you,” Waverly says with a big huff, “It’s Wynonna.”

“Oh,” Nicole says.  She feels a little relieved at this.  Not entirely comforted by the fact that Waverly didn’t disagree but that is certainly not the issue right now.  “What did Wynonna do?”

“She’s leaving me,” Waverly says.  She looks away from Nicole like she’s afraid to show her this side.  Nicole gets it, they don’t talk about their families much, but on her part that’s because she doesn’t have anything to say.

“Baby,” Nicole whispers.

She tests it out, hoping that it will make Waverly feel as warm as it had made her feel just yesterday.  She lifts a hand and tucks a strand of hair behind Waverly’s ear.  Her fingers slip through her hair, quickly shifting to Waverly’s exposed arm.  She’s wearing a dress that gives more of a summer vibe, thin straps on her shoulders and a floral pattern.  Nicole gulped when she first saw her in the dress because Waverly looks so hot.

“Hey,” Nicole says slowly when there isn’t an immediate reaction, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Nicole,” Waverly warns.

“Waves,” she says softer, running her fingers over Waverly’s back, “I’m here.  Ok, baby?  I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Wynonna is just the last of people who hasn’t left me,” Waverly says, “And now she’s going on tour with Mama.”

“I know what that’s like,” Nicole says, “But it isn’t all bad.  If you’re lucky you’ll find someone who makes you feel like you aren’t so alone anymore.”

Waverly smiles at this.  She says, “You don’t want me around all of the time.”

“Yes I do,” Nicole replies, “You make me feel that way.  You’re the only one who has ever made me feel that way.”

“I’m ruining your birthday,” Waverly says.

“You’ll have to try a lot harder to ruin my birthday,” Nicole says with a smirk.

Waverly laughs.  She looks up at Nicole through her eye lashes.  Nicole thinks she’s looking at her like she wants to jump her and certainly wouldn’t be opposed to Waverly doing that.  Waverly says, “Thank you.  Thank you for being so understanding.”

“You’re welcome,” Nicole says with a small nod.

“There’s more to you than you think,” Waverly says softly.  Nicole is curious to know what she means by that and as she looks at Waverly with a slightly tilted head she thinks Waverly is going to elaborate.  Her hand falls to the mattress behind Waverly, resting her fingers against the part of Waverly’s body closest to her.  “I’m not better than you."

“Well,” Nicole says, chuckling, “My history would say otherwise.” 

“We all have history,” Waverly replies.  Nicole thinks back to Waverly’s history that she’s privy to.  Waverly was dating a senior last year and when he graduated, he broke up with her before going off to college.  At least that’s what the rumor Nicole heard said happened anyway.  “And they just don’t know the real you.” 

“The real me?” Nicole repeats. 

“Yeah,” Waverly says.  She leans closer to Nicole, her fingers pushing up to the inside of Nicole’s forearm.  Nicole’s distracted by the movement, eyes dropping down to where Waverly’s fingers sweep over her skin.  “You know, all of that time I saw you with Shae, I never saw you like this.” 

“Like…?”

“Like you actually like me,” Waverly says softly, “You’re just, you’re so thoughtful and…affectionate.  It’s kind of sexy.” 

“Kind of?” Nicole asks, more defensive than she means for it to be. 

“Like you need my help getting a big head,” Waverly says.

“You’re my girlfriend,” Nicole says, “The only thing that matters is that you think I’m sexy.”

Nicole sighs, pressing her hand against Waverly’s thigh.  The hem of her dress has slipped upward, showing her just a little more skin than Nicole’s brain can really process, especially when she realizes that her thumb is on bare skin.  She’s looking at Waverly, but her back is twisted in a way that’s beginning to ache.

Waverly sighs as well.  The weight on the mattress shifts as she realizes Waverly is moving.  She says, “Of course I do, baby.”

Waverly’s voice is deeper than Nicole expects to hear.  She realizes Waverly is moving towards her, lifting Nicole’s hand in hers and placing it on her hip.  Nicole is met with Waverly hovering above her, the weight on her legs unexpected.  Her brain pieces together that Waverly is straddling her.

The words are still warming Nicole when she looks up at Waverly, questioning gaze at how easy it is for them to be here to this point of comfort already.

If she didn’t know any better, she would say they’ve been dating for months if not years.

Nicole realizes this is a woman who knows who she is just as well as Nicole knows who she is, a woman who has experienced but still knows how to be kind.

Her arms feel like jelly, one hand on Waverly’s hip and the other hand pressed against her thigh.  Nicole finds herself looking deep into Waverly’s eyes, searching them for some kind of answer of what she wants.  She’s lost, feeling confused by the fact that she’s both comfortable and nervous at the same time.

“You’re so very sexy,” Waverly mutters, voice soft and quiet.

Nicole feels these words against her mouth before she feels Waverly’s lips.  Her lips are soft and warm, tongue quickly darting across Nicole’s slightly parted mouth.  She swallows and opens her mouth more, meeting Waverly’s efforts with just as much energy.

They kiss for a while.  Nicole doesn’t keep track of the time, just focuses on the way Waverly tastes and how she’s leaning heavily against Nicole.  Her body feels like it’s aggressively revving up, especially at the way that Waverly keeps moaning softly against her mouth.

Waverly’s hands press against her stomach. It tickles when her fingers trickle down Nicole’s front and slip under the hem of her shirt.  Nicole leans back, feeling more ticklish than she ever remembers feeling, but Waverly’s hands follow as they push up her stomach.  Nicole, meanwhile, is just doing her best to press her hands on the small of Waverly’s back and hold her up.  She’s quickly losing her ability to multitask.

Waverly’s fingers against her rib cage tickles her even more and she squirms, falling back until her head hits the bed.

Waverly hovers over her, a big smile on her face.  Her palms dig in to Nicole’s skin, fingers curling against the bones at the base of her ribs.  She balances there, lowering her face down towards Nicole’s.  She zigs at the last possible moment and her soft hair sweeps across Nicole’s face.

Nicole feels a warmth against the skin of her neck where her heartbeat throbs.  She’s more focused on Waverly’s hands tickling her when she feels a sharp pinch against her skin, and she stills in her breathing.  She quickly moves her hands to Waverly’s forearms as she gulps, loudly, a groan maybe even falling out.

When Waverly pulls back, face slowly coming in to view, she has a smirk on her face.

“Waverly Earp,” Nicole says, voice husky and mostly turned on, “Did you just, did you just mark me?”

“Would you hate me if I did?” She asks.

Waverly’s gazing through her eyelashes and all Nicole can do is bend all of her will to whatever Waverly wants.

She can’t muster a response in words.  She squeezes Waverly’s forearms and pulls at them, the top weight coming down onto Nicole’s chest.  Their mouths are closer and Waverly seems to take the opportunity to plant a hand on either side of Nicole’s face before she kisses her.

Nicole is pretty certain that all of the times she imagined Waverly Earp as a girlfriend, which was once or twice at most, she had not imagined someone so confident and aggressive.

She laughs suddenly, the stupid sound pressing against Waverly’s mouth and following her as she pulls away from Nicole.

She looks at Nicole curiously and says, “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Nicole says quickly, straightening up.  Waverly looks at her like she doesn’t believe her.  Nicole takes this moment to flip their positions, pushing Waverly onto her back and pinning her against the bed.  “I was just thinking about this hickey you gave me.”

Nicole reaches up for her collar and tugs on it to make a point.

“I’m sorry,” Waverly says, caving.  Nicole, now pressing her elbow against the mattress beside Waverly, watches as Waverly adorably covers her face with her hand.  Nicole smiles at the movement while she’s careful not to crush Waverly beneath her weight.  “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Waves,” Nicole says, grabbing at Waverly’s hand so she can see her face, “It’s fine.”

Waverly looks up at her, a small pout on her lips. She says, “You can’t even see it.”

“That’s too bad,” Nicole hums.

Smirking, she leans down to kiss Waverly again.  Their lips meet again, slow at first but speeding up with time, and Nicole gets lost on Waverly’s hands moving around her middle.  Nicole moves her right hand to Waverly’s thigh and starts trailing her fingers further down until her hand is under the hem of Waverly’s dress.  She feels like she’s taking it too far, pushing Waverly too soon, so she moves her hand around Waverly’s thigh and grasps it.

Waverly arches her middle upwards, a gasp twisting in Nicole’s mouth.

She feels Waverly biting into her bottom lip when her house suddenly erupts into noise.

Waverly keeps her body arched into Nicole’s but pulls their lips apart.

“Just ignore it,” Nicole says.

She moves to reconnect their lips but Waverly dodges it. Waverly says, “It’s really hard to ignore.”

“Yeah,” Nicole absently agrees.  She hears the sound of people climbing the stairs, and groans loudly.  She looks down at Waverly with her swollen lips and her wide eyes and considers just closing and locking her bedroom door.  “We could just- “

“Go downstairs for your party,” Waverly finishes for her, “We can always come back upstairs and open your present later.”

“I never did open that,” Nicole says, “It can’t be better than this.”

“Well…” Waverly says, drawing it out.

Nicole laughs softly. She feels Waverly’s palms against her shoulders and starts to sit up. She pulls back in an awkward manner, sliding off of Waverly and the bed. Her feet hit the floor and she bends at her knees, leaning back as she offers her hands to Waverly. Waverly slips her hands into hers and she helps her sit up.

She hears a creak at the top of the stairs and turns her gaze to the doorway.

She’s honestly expecting Shae in a potential jealous rage but instead sees Waverly’s friend, Chrissy. Nicole can only assume that Chrissy came to serve as a buffer for Waverly as neither of them have really ever came to her parties before. She knows why Waverly is here now, but she can only assume Chrissy isn’t here for her as well. Chrissy seems like a solid friend, even though her dad is the head town narc.

Nicole offers Chrissy a small smile while Waverly greets her, a little more excited than Nicole is prepared for. Once Nicole moves out of the way, Waverly is able to slide off of the bed. She’s pulled forward by Waverly grabbing her hand and taking the lead towards Chrissy.

Close enough, Chrissy smirks and says, “Nice hickey.”

“You said you couldn’t even see it,” Nicole whispers towards Waverly.

Waverly more properly slips her fingers between Nicole’s and says, “It’s more noticeable than I thought.”

“Just be glad there’s only one,” Chrissy remarks with a wink.

“Huh,” Nicole says, following them down the stairs and into a mob of people that were absolutely not here just a few minutes ago, “Should I be glad?”

Waverly turns her head to look at Nicole over her shoulder, a blush on her cheeks but a smile still on her face. She has to let go of Nicole’s hand to successfully navigate the stairs. Nicole misses the contact, having been connected to Waverly in some way for possibly the last hour, and she feels a little ache in her chest when Waverly doesn’t reach for her again.

While descending the stairs, Nicole becomes aware that everyone is staring at them. Not that she cares if everyone knows that her and Waverly are girlfriends, but she is concerned about the flare in Shae’s eyes that she sees. She makes a decision to ignore it because she doesn’t care what Shae does anymore.

Within minutes the party starts up, music blaring with some Fifth Harmony or former member song bursting through the speakers. Nearly everyone already has a drink in their hand and Nicole absently wonders how many people were drinking by the time they got here. If she’s being honest, she doesn’t even want to drink tonight. She’s just waiting for the appropriate amount of time to pass for her to drag Waverly back up to her bedroom and lock the door.

She would much rather spend time alone with Waverly than have an endless number of people in her house. She doesn’t even care what they do. They could just talk and Nicole would be perfectly fine with that. Of course, she does like the making out, but she isn’t in any sort of hurry to have sex. Not that she doesn’t think it would be great. Waverly has already far exceeded her expectations with anything physical related. In fact, she really came into this thinking they would work up to anything even semi-suggestive of sex.

But still, she grabs a drink in her hand and holds it until she doesn’t think anyone is looking, discarding it on a table somewhere that she’s sure someone will be drunk enough to down later. It seems like the 2 occasions she does this, Waverly catches her doing it. Waverly has a drink that she’s nursing, but Nicole isn’t sure that she’s even drinking it.

About an hour and a half into the party, a song comes on that makes Chrissy get Waverly’s attention, and they pull each other to the middle of the living room to start dancing. It goes on for the whole song and Nicole’s certain that everyone is watching the pair. Pete York from the basketball team swoops in and starts dancing with Chrissy. He’s horrible at it, but not any worse than Nicole knows she would be. She must blink for too long because she sees Champ slide up to Waverly, dancing even worse than she would. Waverly indulges him politely, staying about a foot away from him.

Nicole catches Shae coming towards her out of the corner of her eye so she starts moving in the opposite direction. She finds herself in the middle of the makeshift dance floor. Waverly smiles wider and ignores Champ’s existence immediately, turning to face Nicole.

She grabs both of Nicole’s hands and pulls her closer, saying, “Thanks for saving me.”

“I can’t dance,” Nicole says immediately.

“But you’ll try,” Waverly says, but it sounds like a question.

“Yeah,” Nicole says. She’s always said no whenever someone has asked her to dance. She knows how horrible she is at dancing. She does a quick scan of the room and mostly no one is paying attention, except for Champ with his scowl.

Waverly holds her hand as she dances. Nicole doesn’t do much by way of movement, but she does stand there for Waverly to dance circles around her. Shae has never really been one to have fun at a party, not in this way. Nicole realizes now what she’s always been missing and knows that there isn’t any way she can go back.

“You’re full of surprises,” Nicole says to Waverly as she gets close enough. It shouldn't be surprising that Waverly is a great dancer. She choreographs all of the half time shows the cheerleaders put on, and the ones she actually gets to see or damn good.

The music is still pretty loud and she isn’t even sure that Waverly hears her, but the smile so wide on Waverly’s face distracts her for the time being.  

Nicole’s stomach starts growling so she tugs on Waverly’s hand and pulls her towards the kitchen.  In the kitchen there’s food laid out, chips in a bowl and one of those cheese plate things on the counter.  Nicole has never done anything at a party other than supply the location.  She honestly has no idea where the food or alcohol comes from.  

The kitchen has a few people in it but Nicole weaves around them.  She checks that Waverly is behind her and when she sees that she is, she stops at the island to grab a chip.  She quickly shoves it into her mouth and chews it, grabbing another one and offering it Waverly.  Waverly lightly shakes her head and steps closer to Nicole’s side.  

“How come you never invited me to your parties?” Waverly asks, turning to lean back against the counter.  

“I never invite anyone.  They just show up,” Nicole replies once she’s swallowed the chip.  She’s looking at Waverly now, hip against the island.  She smirks and says, “Why didn’t you ever just show up?”  

“You think if I had you would have noticed me sooner?” Waverly replies.  Her smile is both sad and cheeky at the same time.  

“Would you have noticed me?” Nicole asks.  

Waverly shrugs.  She says, “Maybe we would have got drunk and made out.”  

“And then you would have left,” Nicole comments, “And never called me again.”  

“That isn’t what I’ve heard about you,” Waverly replies.  

“They’re all lies,” Nicole immediately says.  

Waverly lightly shakes her head.  Nicole knows this to be her way of disagreeing but not bothering to argue.  She eats a few more chips before Waverly’s grabbing her hips and slipping her arms around her middle.  She wraps an arm around Waverly’s shoulders, looking down at Waverly and seeing that she’s easily folding into Nicole’s arms.  When she looks back up, she catches Shae in the entryway of the kitchen.  

“Hey,” Nicole says softly, “You want to head upstairs now?”  

“Let me just check on Chrissy,” Waverly says.  

Nicole nods in acknowledgement.  Waverly gives her waist a squeeze before she let’s go.  Nicole feels colder without Waverly’s body heat.  She watches Waverly leave the room and is immediately met with Shae approaching her.  

“Happy birthday,” Shae says too kindly as she throws her arms around Nicole.  

“Thanks,” Nicole mutters, pulling away.  Shae lingers around her shoulders a little too long and she feels Shae moving in close to her face.  She steps back, immediately putting distance between them, and hits the refrigerator.  “Can you not do that?”  

Shae rolls her eyes in response and Nicole feels an annoyance growing in her chest.  Shae has been watching them all evening.  She knows she’s with someone, knows that she wouldn’t spend 4 hours at one person’s side if she weren’t.  Hell, she didn’t even stay at Shae’s side at a party.  

“I gotta,” Nicole starts but trails off, gesturing in the direction of the other room.  

She walks away from Shae pretty sure that she’s asking Nicole to wait so they can talk, but she really doesn’t have anything left to say to Shae anymore.  All she could really say is that she’s moved on and she doesn’t see herself ever coming back.  She opts to ignore Shae and go find Waverly.  

Nicole finds her rather quickly, back with Chrissy in the middle of the living room.  Pete and Champ are both close by but Nicole waits until Waverly gives her some sort of signal that she needs saving.  She seems ok though, laughing while leaning more into Chrissy.  Nicole isn’t particularly worried.  She knows Waverly’s stance on Champ.  In fact, everyone does.  She’s always made it clear she isn’t interested and he’s always just seen it as a challenge.  

Nicole leans against the wall near the entryway at the bottom of the stairs, waiting as patiently as she can.  Sneaking a glance at her watch, she notes that it’s nearly midnight which means they have been interacting with the party longer than she had intended.  She shakes her hand to get her watch back down her wrist and turns her attention back to Waverly.  Waverly takes her off guard by slamming into her and she barely responds in time.  

“Hey,” she says, like she didn’t just see Waverly a few minutes ago, “Having fun?” 

She feels one of Waverly’s hands come up in the space between them and clutch the material of her shirt, hand around the lapel of Nicole’s shirt above the top button.  Waverly tugs her down and kisses her quickly.  Nicole doesn’t even have time to respond before Waverly’s pulled back with a grin.  

“Yeah,” Waverly hums, “Come on and open your present before Chrissy comes up.”  

Waverly is stepping towards the stairs and dragging her forward by the front of her shirt, her hand sliding down the front of Nicole’s shirt until Nicole takes her hand.  She follows Waverly up the stairs to her bedroom, the sound of their footsteps being drowned out by the party still alive.  As they reach the top of the stairs, she notices that people have hunkered down in some of the upstairs rooms that usually don’t get used – a game room with a pool table and an air hockey table, two spare bedrooms.  

She sighs in relief when they enter her bedroom and it doesn’t look like anyone has made their way here, her bed still going untouched.  

“Ok,” Waverly says, shutting the door and leading her to the bed.  She guides Nicole into a sitting position by placing her hands at either of Nicole’s side and pushing her to the edge of the mattress before letting go of her.  She almost falls backward when Waverly releases her, quickly turning away from her.  Nicole watches intently, checking out Waverly’s ass as she grabs the gift from her desk.  “I hope you like it.”  

Waverly shoves the gift into Nicole’s lap and steps back again.  Nicole feels Waverly’s eyes intently rested on her.  Nicole wants to reassure her that she will, she’s pretty low maintenance, but she also just wants to get it over with for Waverly’s sake.  She slowly unwraps it, putting the wrapping paper trash to the side.  It’s a small box and Nicole has no idea what could be inside.  When she shifts her gaze back to Waverly, she’s hiding a nervous looking smile behind her hand.  

Nicole takes the top off of the box to get a look at what’s inside.  

Waverly jumps forward, sits beside her, and says, “I know it’s probably stupid but I thought you could use them for like prom or interviews, stuff like that.”  

“Thank you,” Nicole says.  She reaches into the box and lifts one of the items out, looking at it closely.  It has a basketball itched into silver on one side and the other side has 3 pieces of shiny metal sticking out of them.  It’s a pair of cuff links.  She’s seen her dad wearing them but she’s never had any.  She smirks as she puts it back into the box, covering it so nothing gets lost.  “Is this your way of asking me to prom?”  

“Prom is still like four months away,” Waverly says with a slight eye roll, “How do you know you’ll still want to go with me?”  

“I guess you’ll just have to trust me,” Nicole replies, “Waverly, I’ve never felt for anyone the way that I feel about you.”  

“I know,” she says, “But that’s just so far away.  And I have this plan.  And you have this other plan.  And I just…” 

“Hey,” Nicole says.  She scoots back on the bed and reaches for Waverly’s hand.  She gives it a firm tug as she stretches to get her closer, saying, “Come ‘ere.”  

"Nicole," Waverly says softly, fear lining her voice.

"The only thing I want right now is you," Nicole says just as gentle.  She hears it, hears what it might sound like, and quickly shakes her head.  "We can't worry about four months from now.  Right now, what I care about, is that you make me happy."

"You make me happy, too," Waverly says.

She crawls up the mattress and leans against Nicole.  Nicole lays back, letting Waverly slide up beside her.  Waverly hand slides over her stomach as she lays her head on Nicole's shoulder, and she almost forgets there's a part downstairs.  She presses one hand against Waverly's back and lets her other hand cover the one on her stomach, wondering why right now can't just be enough.  Despite beginning to feel disappointed at the prospect of them going their separate ways once high school ends, she rests her cheek against Waverly's forehead.

“I really, really like you,” Nicole mutters.  She slowly turns her body towards Waverly’s, slipping a leg between the both of hers.  Waverly hooks her leg around Nicole’s and it prompts Nicole to pull back a bit to look at Waverly’s face.  “You know that, right?”

“You make it really hard to not want to be with you,” Waverly says.

Nicole laughs, burying her face into Waverly’s hair.  She whispers, “Good.”

Their movements still for a bit.  Waverly’s pressing her hand against Nicole’s back, fingers twisting in Nicole’s shirt.  Nicole has one hand at the back of Waverly’s knee and the other hand is flat on the mattress.

She feels like she could easily fall in love with Waverly.

She feels like maybe she already has.

She’s really afraid to even try to say anything for fear that how deep her feelings are going might really come out.

She kisses Waverly for a bit, against her neck and her jaw and her cheek.  She moves a bit to kiss Waverly on the lips when the bedroom door opens.  She sighs against Waverly’s shoulder, looking over her to see who’s coming into the bedroom.  It’s Chrissy, making her feel both relieved and annoyed at the same time.

“Oh,” Nicole says, sighing a little too loudly, “Hey, Chrissy.”

“Hey,” Chrissy says, dragging it out a bit.

Nicole looks at Waverly knowingly.

There’s plenty of room on the other side of Waverly for Chrissy to lie down.  Waverly turns out of Nicole’s arms and she’s saddened by the movement, the loss of Waverly’s arms around her making her realize how cold the room is.  She makes a move to get off of the bed and grab something out of the closet for Waverly.

She hears Waverly say something to Chrissy about laying down.  She finds a sweatshirt for Waverly that she hands over.  Waverly sits up to pull the sweatshirt on and she takes this moment to kick off her shoes before climbing back into bed.  Within just a few minutes Chrissy is drunkenly snoring on the other side of Waverly, and Waverly is curled back into her side.

Nicole lays still until Waverly falls asleep, feeling lucky and overwhelmed that Waverly is actually laying in her arms.

She doesn’t think she sleeps at all, too afraid that she might miss a second of this.

Over the course of the night, she realizes what she’s actually feeling is in fact love.

She starts chastising herself but gets distracted every time Waverly shifts against her, hand slipping along her stomach and pressing against Nicole’s bare skin.


	7. Bonus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole puts her books in Waverly's locker.

Nicole is not looking forward to the first day back to school.  She wakes up early to go on a run, takes a shower, and pulls on her best pair of pants with her favorite shirt.  Today, she’s pulling on a graphic t-shirt with a delicate display of planets on it in the top left hand corner in the shape of a pocket.  The shirt is a simple white and she makes sure to bring her jacket along since this shirt doesn’t have long sleeves like normal.

Probably the only thing she has going for her is getting to see her girlfriend.

Not that she hadn’t seen her less than 24 hours before.

Waverly had woken up somewhere around 6am, slightly panicked that she had even fallen asleep at all.  She checked her phone in a flash and noticed the missed calls and texts from Wynonna, grumbled a bit about Wynonna for once not coming into a party, and asked Nicole to take her home.  Truthfully, Nicole had spent the majority of the time paranoid about Waverly’s comment regarding them being together 4 months from now, even though it’s probably too soon to get worked up about something like that.

She makes it to school 15 minutes before the bell and hurries out of her car to catch Waverly.  They have first hour together, but she wanted a few minutes to get in a conversation at least.  She hoists her bag over her shoulder, pulls her collar up to her neck and makes her way inside.

She finds Waverly at her locker, exactly where Nicole expects her to be.

“So, I’ve been doing some thinking,” Nicole greets.

“Oh, god,” Waverly says, “That can’t be good.”

“Hey, the last idea I had was you being my girlfriend,” Nicole argues, “And I think that was a really good idea.”

“You’re right, baby,” Waverly says, turning her attention fully to Nicole, “Morning.”

“Hey, baby,” Nicole replies.  She smiles as she pushes off of the locker.  Stepping closer, she leans down to give Waverly a chaste kiss.  “So, as I was saying, I’ve been thinking I should put my books in your locker.”

Truthfully, she doesn’t even want to return to her locker.  It’s positioned in the perfect spot right next to Shae’s locker and she would rather not go over there.  Besides, leaving her books in Waverly’s locker would be an excuse to see her first thing in the morning.

“You’re kidding,” Waverly says.

“No,” Nicole says slowly, “That way I get to see you first thing every morning.”

“Awe,” Waverly says, almost a little too giddily.  Nicole can’t help smiling at Waverly’s enthusiasm at the idea, maybe because she might think it’s cute.  Nicole just thinks Waverly is cute.  “That’s so cute.”

“You’re so cute,” Nicole replies.  Waverly’s smile reaches her eyes, the little crinkles surrounding them making her even cuter than Nicole thought possible.  She edges a little closer to Waverly, one hand clutching the strap of her backpack.  “Anyway, we basically share a book in math and now that we can be partners in science we could probably share in there, too.  So it’ll just be a few books.”

She steps behind Waverly and peeks into her locker.  She says, “It looks pretty full.  I can just stuff my three books at the top.”

“Oh, these are just the history books I checked out from the library,” Waverly informs her, “I was actually just about to take them back.”

“Great,” Nicole says.  She reaches around Waverly and grabs the history books Waverly indicated from her locker.  She quickly drops her bag from her shoulder to grab her own history book and English books and French book out, replacing the history books with her own.  “I’ll just carry these for you.”

She zips her bag back up, leaving her notebooks in it.  Her math books and science books are already at home and she plans on leaving them there.  She realizes Waverly hasn’t said anything in a while and that prompts her to look in that direction.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you just invite yourself into my locker?” Waverly counters.

“Yep,” Nicole says with a smirk, “Good luck getting rid of me now.”

“You’re lucky I like you,” Waverly murmurs.

“True,” Nicole agrees.

She clutches the books to her side with one hand and wraps her other arm around Waverly’s middle.  She presses her front against Waverly’s back as she leans forward to plant a kiss on Waverly’s cheek.  It’s quick, but she’s glad any time she has the urge to kiss Waverly she gets to.

“Come on, smooth talker,” Waverly says, “We better drop those books off before class.”

Waverly closes the locker door and turns to face Nicole with a smile on her face.  Nicole walks with Waverly to the library to drop off her books before they head to math class.  In math class they sit close enough to each other that she can feel Waverly’s entire thigh against hers.  Every once and a while Waverly will run her hand along Nicole’s arm and Nicole will look over at her, no longer hearing anything the teacher says.  This only lasts for about a minute before Waverly directs her attention back to math.  Science is similar.  It’s more bearable now that she is no longer Shae’s lab partner.

Overall, first day back is better than she expected it to be, but she thinks that all has something to do with Waverly.

|

The game is a loss, which is disappointing considering they were able to beat the hardest team of the season just a few days ago.

Nicole would bet that it has something to do with the way they all let their guards down.  She had even missed her run Sunday morning due to having stayed up all night watching Waverly sleep.  Like the lovesick weirdo that she is.  She knows she didn’t play a horrible game, but she could have done better.

When she gives Waverly a small smile in return and follows the rest of her team into the locker room, Coach Lucado asks to talk to her before she showers.  She mentions scouts becoming more present and congratulates Nicole on improving her grades.  She pretends like she hasn’t noticed Nicole spending a lot more time with Waverly, but she can still see approval in her coach's eyes.

By the time they finish chatting, most of her team are currently showering, has either showered completely or have already left the locker room.  Even though Nicole is probably the only one who showers after every game and grueling practices if she has somewhere to be after practice, she usually ends up getting the entire locker room to herself.  Especially when it comes to away games.

She's finger deep in a scalp scrub with her shampoo and conditioner 2-in-1 when she hears a throaty _Oh_ behind her.

Nicole turns sharply, almost feeling exposed until she sees its Waverly.  She has showered in front of people before, but no one really calls attention to it.  She smiles, feeling uncharacteristically embarrassed.

“Hey, Waves,” she says, “I’ll be done in just a minute.”

“Ok,” Waverly replies, “I’ll just wait for you over...”

Nicole nods in confirmation then hurries to finish her shower.  She turns the water off and quickly dries off with a towel, getting dressed in her spare clothes.  She has on her skinny jeans, light in color, and a white button up with lightning bolts on it.

She rushes out into the room where the lockers are and spots Waverly sitting on a bench.

“Hey, baby,” Nicole mutters, “Sorry I took so long.  Coach wanted to talk.”

“I only have a few more minutes,” Waverly replies.

“Oh,” Nicole says, pouting, “Well, I’ll walk you out.”

Nicole quickly grabs her bag and makes her way back to Waverly.  She lifts a hand to the small of Waverly’s back to lead her out of the locker room.  Their silence is quickly drowned out by the sound of the gym erupting into noise.

“Wynonna’s coming to pick me up after the game but I’ll say bye before I leave,” Waverly says.

“Sounds good,” Nicole says.  Waverly pushes up onto her toes and quickly kisses Nicole at the corner of her mouth.  Nicole smiles as she kisses her back.  She only gets 5 minutes after the game is over to see her girlfriend.

|

Nicole has to be back at the school in half an hour to make it back to the bus on time.  Waverly had to stay and go over a few more choreography moves, otherwise Nicole was going to try to convince her to get a bite to eat.  They haven’t been on an actual date yet and, even though she knows it wouldn’t be the ideal first date since they would be pressed for time, she still wants to take Waverly out.

She had forgotten her basketball shoes.  She had been in a hurry this morning, running late and almost not able to even meet Waverly before class.  So now that she has them, she’s locking up her house and running back to her car.

She’s barely locked her front door before she’s startled.

“Hey, Haughtstuff,” Wynonna says from behind her.

“Shit,” Nicole mutters, jumping in her own skin, “Wynonna.”

“I hear you’re bangin my sister,” Wynonna replies.

Nicole stares at her for a moment and Wynonna seems intimidating even though she’s on the bottom step of the front porch.  She clutches her keys tightly in her hand as she steps forward.  She shakes her head slowly and says, “We haven’t...you know.”

“Oh, Haught,” Wynonna says laughing as she turns her gaze away from Nicole, “I never took you to be such a prude.”

“So you want me to bang your sister?” Nicole asks, confused.

“Look, Waverly’s heart?” Wynonna starts, looking back at Nicole, “It lives in her vagina.”

“What?” Nicole says, even more confused.

“She’s not like us,” Wynonna says, stepping up one more step, “She doesn’t play it fast and loose.  Sex means something to her.  And if you hurt her, I will come back and make your life a living hell.”

Nicole laughs for some reason.  Maybe because she knows Wynonna’s threat is fairly empty considering she’s pretty sure she’s already in love with Waverly and isn’t going to do anything to hurt her.  Part of her wants to say that Nicole’s pretty sure she’s the one who is going to end up hurt.  After all, Waverly is the smart one and the one going places.

“Pretty sure you’ve got nothing to worry about,” Nicole says flippantly.  She walks all of the way down the stairs, passing Wynonna, and starts heading to her vehicle.  “Well, you do, actually.  She’s upset you’re leaving.”

“Yeah,” Wynonna says, turning around but looking away.  She seems to shift uncomfortably.  Nicole knows Wynonna well enough to know that she hates emotions.  “I got to get out of here, Nicole.  You get me, right?”

“I think even Waverly gets it, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“Fine,” Wynonna says forcibly, “Just tell me I’m leaving her in good hands.”

Nicole tilts her chin down, thinking about what Wynonna is asking her.  Would Wynonna really ask her to take care of Waverly after like a week of dating?  Should she really be trusted with that job?  She’s liable to fuck up.  Even if she is truly in love with Waverly.

“You know who you’re talking to, right?” Nicole replies, finally laughing.

“I do,” Wynonna says, “I’m trusting you.”

“I really have to get back to the school or they’ll leave me,” Nicole says.

Her and Wynonna part ways, Nicole in her Land Rover and Wynonna in the Jeep.  She drives back to the school and makes it there just in time.  She clutches her bag tightly as she climbs onto the bus, annoyed that the first thing she sees when she gets on it is Champ sitting next to Waverly.

Her gaze narrows as she walks down the aisle and when she gets to the seat, she isn’t going to back down.

Champ is chatting about something and Waverly is immediately looking at her, face twisted in an honest apology.

“Oh, hey, Haught,” Champ greets her, smile too big.

“You’re in my seat,” Nicole replies, ignoring his fake demeanor.

“I didn’t see your name on it,” he says a little too showy.

“My girlfriend,” Nicole says, tone even as she leans against the back of the seat in front of him, “My seat.”

“Nicole, it’s fine,” Waverly says, quickly standing up, “I’ll just grab my stuff and sit next to you.”

Nicole turns reluctantly, sliding into the seat in front of them and leaning back against the shell of the bus.  She drops her bag onto floor space a little to forcefully, and watches Waverly struggle to get out of the seat that Champ is trapping her in out of the corner of her eye.  Nicole could just kill him. Especially after Wynonna just gave her the third degree about Waverly being left in good hands. 

Finally, Waverly makes her way over Champ and moves towards the seat next to Nicole.  She nudges Nicole’s foot which prompts her to sit upright but she doesn’t move her legs.  Slowly she moves to make more room for Waverly, the annoyance still weighing heavily on her shoulders.  One of her legs is pulled to her chest while the other is spread out across the floor, making Waverly touch her no matter what.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Waverly says quietly as she leans against Nicole’s leg.

“You didn’t do anything,” Nicole grumbles.

“I told him he could sit there as long as he got up when you got here,” Waverly replies.  She looks over at Waverly, pout still on her lips, and almost loses her resolve.  She wants to be salty about this, damn it.  “God, I’m so sorry.”

“Hey,” Nicole says softly, thinking about what Wynonna said.  She finally sits up more, straightening her back and turning her leg to the side.  She drops a hand to Waverly’s leg, to which Waverly immediately responds in an interesting, squirming manner.  “I’m not mad, ok?  I just like sitting with you.  It makes me feel...I don’t know, less nervous.”

“Me too,” Waverly says shyly.

The bus ride is only 20 minutes.  They spend that time talking a bit about how Waverly is dealing with Wynonna leaving.  Apparently they are leaving this evening and Nicole can’t bring herself to mention the impromptu visit.  They hold hands a bit.  They also solidify their plans for the following day.  Waverly wants a Harry Potter marathon and Nicole would give her anything she wants.

The game is an easy win.

The boys game drags on for so long.

The ride back is much quieter than the ride there.

Nicole takes Waverly home, kissing her goodnight with the promise of tomorrow.

|

Nicole purchases all of the movies on iTunes from her Apple TV right before Waverly arrives. 

When Waverly does walk through the door, Nicole offers her something to drink and something to eat until she realizes that she doesn’t have anything in the refrigerator.  She honestly sometimes wonders how she manages to feed herself.  She almost never has a healthy lunch and her dinner usually consists of fast food.

When she woke up she went for a short run, knowing she didn’t have as much time for her exercise before Waverly arrived.  She got in a shower just in time, also managing to find a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.  Her sweatshirt encompasses the Toronto Raptors emblem on a black material.  She’s had the sweatshirt since she was 12, but she picked it out oversized so it still fits her.

Waverly chastises her for not eating properly on the way up the stairs, mentioning that as someone who burns a lot of calories she needs to be consuming twice as many as a normal person.  Nicole sighs, placating Waverly.  Truthfully, she appreciates that someone cares about her so much.

When they get to her bedroom, they get comfortable on her bed and lean back propped up against the headboard.  Waverly tucks herself into Nicole’s side to which Nicole secures her there safely by wrapping her arm around her.  Once they’ve settled in, Nicole starts the movie.

They lay there together, slightly propped up but mostly positioned just enough that she can see her television clearly on top of her tv stand.  It’s a 50-inch that her parents gave to her in the form of another apology.  She’s more distracted by Waverly pressed against her than she’s focusing on the movie.

It’s right around the time that the quidditch game starts that Waverly starts moving at her side.  She looks away from the moving picture to glance down at Waverly.  Waverly is turning, angling her body more towards Nicole’s, and pressing her cheek against Nicole’s shoulder.

“You ok?” Nicole asks.

“Just a little cold,” Waverly says.  She tucks her arms between her body and Nicole’s, trying to keep her skin away from the air.

“I can grab a blanket,” Nicole offers.

“No,” Waverly replies quickly, voice a tinge pouty in that adorable manner Nicole has noticed she manages, “I’ll just use you as my blanket.”

Nicole smiles at that, giving in to the fact that she isn’t really watching the movie anyway.  She slides down a little as she turns to face Waverly, throwing her arm around her middle.  She tucks Waverly beneath her chin, squeezing her in a hopefully warm embrace, and curls her leg around Waverly’s like she’s wrapping her in a burrito.

It’s no wonder Waverly’s cold, with her jeans rolled up a little and a crop top on her torso.  The blouse is at least long sleeve and she at least has fuzzy socks on, but her hands are freezing through Nicole’s shirt.  She wonders how many blankets Waverly needs to be warm.

“Is that any better?” Nicole asks, barely above a whisper.

“Yes,” Waverly answers.

A few minutes later, when chess pieces are being moved in a violent manner, she feels Waverly shift again.  Her leg slides between Nicole’s, thigh inching upwards until Nicole is gulping.  She exhales softly, steadying her nerves, and loosens her arms around Waverly.

“Do you, um,” Nicole starts, leaning her upper half back to look at Waverly, “Do you want to get under the blankets?”

“You won’t be too warm?” Waverly asks, pulling back to peer back at her.

“I can just take my sweatshirt off if I get too warm,” she replies.  She has on a plain black t-shirt beneath it, sleeves short and material tight fitting.  It’ll probably leave her cold enough that she’ll need a blanket.

“Ok,” Waverly finally agrees.

They disentangle so they can peel the blankets back and slide in between them.  If Waverly notices her sheet set, dark blue with green arrows, she doesn’t mention it.  They get comfortable again, Waverly immediately settling into Nicole’s side and resting her cheek on her shoulder.  Waverly’s arm slowly slides across Nicole’s middle and it warms her belly just a little.

“Better?” Nicole asks.

“I’m snuggly now,” Waverly confirms.

For the remainder of the film, she feels Waverly’s fingers drawing patterns along her waistline where her shirt slipped up while they were moving.

She has to reach for the remote on her nightstand to select the next film.  It starts up and Nicole has to stretch a little bit extra to return the remote.  As she settles back against the pillows, some of Waverly’s wavy hair flies into her face.  Waverly’s fingers return to the lightest of tickles against her stomach.

Harry and Ron trip over each other on the train platform when Waverly moves again.  Her hand reaches for Nicole’s and she threads their fingers together. Nicole smiles in response.  Waverly pushes her foot between Nicole’s, toes inching up to her ankle.

Another quidditch match starts and it’s her turn to move.  She turns to face Waverly, hooking her leg around Waverly’s and pulling her closer that way.  Their hips press together and she’s instantly reminded about what Wynonna said.  Sex means something to Waverly. If she goes there with her, Nicole will have to admit how she feels and Waverly then has the power to hurt her.

She sighs, her torso becoming increasingly warm.

She finally gives in when a young Tom Riddle comes on screen.  She rolls over onto her back, pulling all of her limbs straight ahead.  Sitting up, she grabs her sweatshirt by the collar and tugs.  Once she’s pulled the piece of clothing off, she balls it up and sets it on the night stand.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Waverly says.

Nicole turns her body to look at Waverly and sees a sad, guilty looking pout on her face.  She shakes her head lightly.  She says, “Don’t be sorry.  I’m a space heater anyway.”

She lays back down next to Waverly, letting Waverly snuggle into her again.

She blinks a few times then peels her eyes open to Dobby being freed.

She must have fallen asleep for a few minutes.

Her stomach rumbles.  Waverly must notice because she starts moving slowly, her head shifting on Nicole’s shoulder.  She feels that her bones are cramping and stretches out, moving her free arm up and pushing it out.  Her hand hits the nightstand a little hard and she’s immediately hissing.

“Nicole,” Waverly nearly screams, surprised and panicking, “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, baby,” she says with a tired voice, “But I am getting hungry.  Are you?”

“Uh, Yeah,” Waverly replies, “A little.”

“Vegetarian pizza?” Nicole asks.

“You remembered,” Waverly coos, an adorable smile.

“Of course I did,” Nicole says.

She sits upright, crossing her legs in front of her as she reaches for her phone on her nightstand.  She pulls up the app for pizza and places an order, splurging for the gluten free crust too, just in case.  She discards her phone back onto the nightstand, immediately grabbing the remote to stop the current credits and start the next movie.

“Ok,” she announces, setting the remote back onto the nightstand and laying back down, “Come back to me.”

“You’re so cute,” Waverly says.

She’s smiling as she leans back into Nicole, this time their chests pressing together.  She feels Waverly’s finger etch over bare arm.  A shiver courses through her.  She’s overwhelmed with the desire to kiss Waverly, realizing that they are now into the third movie and they haven’t even really done so. 

“Hey,” she whispers.  Waverly lifts herself off of Nicole to look at her again.  She hooks her index finger beneath Waverly’s chin and pulls her forward, their lips brushing together.  The kiss doesn’t deepen, just soft lips pressed together.  “Sorry to interrupt your movie.”

“You can interrupt my movie for kisses any time,” Waverly replies.

“Oh yeah?” Nicole asks with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Waverly replies, “I happen to like it.”

“Good.  I like it, too,” Nicole says.  She drops both hands to the pillow and shoves them behind her head.  Staring up at Waverly, she realizes that Waverly seems to have something on her mind.  “What are you thinking?”

“That this is the best date I’ve ever had,” Waverly says.

“This?” Nicole says, “ _This_ is the best date you’ve ever had?”

“Don’t make me say it,” Waverly mutters.

Nicole doesn’t respond, just watches as Waverly aborts and throws herself onto her back on the mattress.  Nicole follows like a string, leaning on her elbow beside Waverly’s shoulder.  She pushes her other hand across Waverly’s torso to settle on her hip.

“Baby,” Nicole says evenly yet encouraging.

“I feel really safe with you,” Waverly says through a sigh, “And like, I don’t know, you care about how I’m feeling.  We haven’t even been together that long and I just...so, um, you probably want to run away now.”

“Nope,” Nicole says.  She feels that swirling in her stomach that makes her feel like she’s important.  She hasn’t felt like that in a really long time, not outside of basketball.  She smiles reassuringly, slipping her hand beneath Waverly’s back to angle her closer.  “You’re not getting rid of me that easily.  My books are in your locker.  Remember?”

Waverly laughs at that.  Nicole feels Waverly sweep a hand through her hair, nails scratching against her scalp.  She says, “If you wanted them back I would give them to you.”

“I don’t want my books back,” Nicole says, deciding to be serious, “I _want_ to make you feel safe.  It doesn’t matter that we haven’t been together for long.  I think we’re going to be together for a long time.”

As Waverly moves closer, Nicole offers her support by pulling her to her.  Their lips meet and Nicole’s fingers easily slip under the hem of Waverly’s shirt.  They stay there, fingers feeling at soft skin but not drifting anymore beneath the fabric.  She flits her tongue out and sweeps it along Waverly’s bottom lip, begging for permission to kiss her deeper.  Waverly’s lips part as she arches her stomach against Nicole’s.

She moves to position herself on top of Waverly’s body when the doorbell goes off.

She pulls back from the kiss and a sigh falls out of her mouth.

“That’s probably the food,” she mutters.  She honestly forgot she was hungry.  She slides out from beneath the blankets and stands up with a subtle stretch.  “I’ll be right back.”

She gives Waverly a long look before she gives in and leans in for another kiss.

Banging erupts on the door again.

She pulls back, rolling her eyes.  She glances quickly at the tv and sees Snape on the screen, telling them to open their books to page 394.  She quickly runs downstairs to get the door, almost making it back in record time.

There’s a storm on the television, another quidditch game going.

She sets the box down on the mattress next to Waverly who seems to be sitting up and shivering.  Nicole moves around the bed and grabs her sweatshirt off of the nightstand.  She offers it to Waverly, who takes it and pulls it on over her head.  Her hair gets a little frizzy, but she smiles while reaching for Nicole’s hand.

Nicole slips her hand into Waverly’s and slides back onto the bed, bending her left knee and letting her right leg hang off of the bed.  Waverly moves the box closer to the space in front of them.  Opening the lid, they both take a slice and start eating it.  After they are full enough, Nicole takes the leftovers and runs them down to store in the fridge.

She returns upstairs to Waverly no longer in the bedroom, her bathroom door closed, and movie still going.

She lays back on the bed and waits for Waverly to return.  As she walks through the bathroom door, Harry’s patronus is making an appearance.  Nicole forgets about the movie playing as Waverly smiles and makes her way back to the bed.

Crawling back under the blankets, she scoots towards Nicole and leans against her again.  She feels Waverly slide a foot across her shin and slip under her calf.  Her hand splaying out against Nicole’s stomach.

Waverly’s fingers start drawing a lazy pattern against Nicole’s stomach, fingers catching on the fabric of Nicole’s t-shirt every once in a while.  Nicole feels Waverly’s toes inch further down her leg, stopping at her ankle and knee pressing against Nicole’s thigh.  She moves her hand down to Waverly’s knee and lets it rest there.  She slides her other hand up and down Waverly’s spine, letting her eyes close.

She hears Harry yelling at Ron to run.  Waverly’s hand smooths across her stomach and just below her sternum.  Waverly’s soft touch makes her peel her eyes open.  The firm grip on the front of her shirt from Waverly’s tight grasp tugs her forward.

She turns her head just in time for her lips to collide with Waverly’s, the softness of her warm lips pushing to part Nicole’s.  She responds quickly, pushing her tongue out to meet Waverly’s easily.  Her mouth tastes minty, like she brushed her teeth while she was in the bathroom.  Now Nicole feels embarrassed by not getting to do the same.

Waverly’s hand drifts back down her torso.  She feels the soft pads of Waverly’s fingertips sweep over her stomach.  Feeling overwhelmed by Waverly’s touch, she shifts her body so she’s facing her.  With Waverly’s knee between her thighs and a hand sliding across her bare skin, she feels herself arching forward.

Nicole slides her hand lower, settling it on the small of Waverly’s back.  In return, Waverly pushes her thigh further up and leans more into her until Nicole is gasping for breath.  She pulls back to breathe, no longer thinking clearly.  Waverly chases her mouth, thigh inching away.  She moves her hand around to Waverly’s ass, using her strength to guide their hips together as their lips reconnect.

Suddenly, the tightness around her waist loosens and she’s feeling Waverly’s fingers slip beneath the waistband of her pants.  She quickly pulls her hand from Waverly’s ass and wraps it around her wrist to stop her movements.  She pulls away with a sigh, the noise more forlorn than pleasant.

“Wait,” she mutters, brain foggy as she realizes just how turned on she is, “God.”

She rolls onto her back, pants still unbuttoned, and stares at the ceiling.

She thinks about what could happen, considers what it could mean.

She’s in this with her heart, something she can’t say she’s ever felt in regards to anything other than basketball, and if she gives Waverly her everything then that gives her the power to hurt her.

“I don’t think I can do this,” Nicole admits.

“Do...what?”

Waverly’s sitting up, slow and careful.

“This is going to mean so much to me,” Nicole says.  She squeezes her eyes shut, afraid to look Waverly in the eye as she says anything else.  She exhales a breath, trying to steady her nerves.  “And I just, I don’t want to do this with you unless you understand how I feel.”

She isn’t sure how deep she should admit that her feelings run.

“You like me,” Waverly says, “Just like I like you.”

“Baby,” Nicole says, steadier voice then she feels.  She opens her eyes.  She reaches out to wrap her hand around Waverly’s wrist, hopefully with a comforting touch.  “I really, _really_ like you.  Like, ‘become a better person, make the earth move for you’ kind of like you.  And if you don’t feel the same way...then I’m not ready to do this.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says.  Her voice is soft.  She twists her wrist until she can slide her fingers between Nicole’s.  “You have no idea just how much you mean to me.”

“I feel myself getting attached to you, Waverly,” Nicole says, looking away again, “And I just know that if I let this happen...no one can hurt me like you could.”

“Then trust me.  Believe me when I tell you that I’m not going to hurt you,” Waverly whispers.  Waverly squeezes her hand.  The blankets start moving further down her body, but the cold is quickly replaced when Waverly presses against her.  “It means something to me, too.  You mean something to me.”

“Waves,” Nicole half whines.

“No,” Waverly says, pulling Nicole’s hand to her chest, “Feel it. Trust me.”

She understands as Waverly’s heart beats erratically against her palm.

“Ok,” Nicole says, deep into the back of her throat, “I trust you.”

Nicole doesn’t give Waverly an opportunity to respond because she’s slipping her fingers beneath the collar of the sweatshirt and tugging Waverly down.

They kiss again, lips sliding together, and Nicole manages to press their hips together as well.  The weight of Waverly against her hipbones and her stomach momentarily makes her forget to kiss back.  She feels a light nip against her lip, and Waverly quickly swirls her tongue over the area.

Something doesn’t quite feel right with Waverly’s soft, strong hair against her cheek.  She lets Waverly grab her hand and guide it beneath the sweatshirt.  She feels a sliver of Waverly’s skin and the material of her crop top.  She sighs against Waverly’s mouth and uses both hands to tug at the sweatshirt, hips grinding into her own.

The blankets fall further towards the foot of the bed, now pooling around Waverly’s waist.  As Waverly stops kissing her to sit up and pull off the sweatshirt, Nicole follows her movements.  Her hands start helping Waverly with the sweatshirt and her long sleeve shirt, pulling them off before tossing them aside.

Nicole, thinking that Waverly might get cold, wraps her arms around Waverly’s waist and moves them so Waverly is laying back on the mattress.  She peers down at Waverly, brown hair surrounding her face and acting as an elegant background that makes Nicole’s insides twist.  There’s something about the way her bedding makes Waverly’s skin pop, light and smooth against the navy despite the clashing color of her orange bra.

Nicole hesitates in awe, the sound of Waverly’s breathing and a residual laughter ringing in her ears.  With a swallow of the saliva gathering in her mouth, she pulls her shirt off over her head and tosses it aside.  She immediately feels Waverly’s hands on her stomach, tracing those damn patterns again.

She looks back down at Waverly and it suddenly hits her.

Waverly is beneath her, lips swollen and hair taking on a life of its own.

“Jesus,” she whispers, “You’re so...beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Waverly breathes.

Waverly’s legs widen a bit, Nicole’s hands brushing against her knees.  She slides her hands down Waverly’s thighs, only stopping them when she pushes her thumbs into each hip.  Her pants are slowly unzipped and she’s being tugged by the material.  She leans down and stretches out, lightly kissing Waverly at the corner of her mouth.

She settles her body between Waverly’s legs, pushing her hands up from Waverly’s hips to take some of the weight off.

She presses a kiss against Waverly’s jaw to start her trail to the neck.  Swirling her tongue against the skin and then giving it a light nibble, she hears Waverly weakly protest.  Nicole stops giving attention to that area and moves on to Waverly’s collarbone.  She repeats her actions but doesn’t get a protest this time.

Waverly’s hands slip along her sides, grazing over places that normally tickles her but only manages to turn her on more now.

Returning her mouth to Waverly’s, Nicole drops her weight to the side on the mattress by using her elbow to prop herself up.  As her body moves, so does Waverly’s.  Her back arches enough that Nicole can slip her hand beneath Waverly and hold her closer, their torsos sliding together with the movement.

She realizes she’s getting ahead of herself and she needs to slow it down.

She gives them a moment to breathe.  She shifts her weight off of Waverly beneath her, collapsing onto the bed.  She’s panting a bit, resting her head against the pillow as she stares deep into Waverly’s eyes.

“Are you sure about this?” She asks.

“Are you?” Waverly counters.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nicole replies quickly, sounds almost uncertain even to herself, “I think so.”

“Do you want me?” Waverly asks, voice a whisper.

“Oh god,” Nicole groans.  She pauses to breathe.  Her breath falters when Waverly’s hand trails over her back and slips under the waistband of her jeans.  She sighs, turning her head to look up at the ceiling like she’s searching for some resolve.  “I want you so much.”

“I want you, too,” Waverly says.

She feels Waverly press her fingers against her cheek and guide her face back.  She’s barely facing in her direction when Nicole feels Waverly’s lips descending on hers again.  She receives an encouraging sweep of Waverly’s tongue against her top lip and it prompts her to inch her fingers up Waverly’s spine to the clasp in her bra.  Her fingers twist against the clasp and it’s coming undone in seconds.

Waverly sighs against her mouth.  Nicole feels Waverly’s hand fluctuate at her backside, subtly shifting her jeans on her hips, and it prompts a growl to tumble out of her mouth.  Without being able to have complete thoughts, Nicole’s body only knows how to respond to Waverly’s touch.  She keeps getting to wrapped up in the feeling so she forgets to initiate any further moment. 

“Waves,” she whispers, putting maybe 2 inches of space between their faces, “Wait, wait, wait.” 

Waverly’s smile as she sits up, right breast casually slipping out of her bra, only warms Nicole’s insides.  She follows Waverly’s lead, sitting up right next to her.  Their shoulders brush together and Nicole’s breath hitches in her throat when Waverly removes her bra.  She throws it into the pile of clothing on the floor and Nicole watches as Waverly leans all of the way back down and starts pushing at her jeans. 

“Aren’t you going to help me?” Waverly says. 

Nicole’s staring, maybe even drooling, as Waverly inches her jeans down her hips.  Nodding, Nicole turns and starts fiddling with the button on her jeans.  Nicole’s fingers slip, filled with nerves and distracted by the way Waverly’s entire body sways.  It resembles the most gorgeous of views caught in the wind. 

“Sorry,” Nicole mutters, finally getting the button undone, “Sorry.” 

Waverly halts her hands and quickly reaches for one of Nicole’s, guiding it where she wants it.  She replaces her hand’s task with Nicole’s and Nicole starts tugging on possibly the tightest pair of jeans that have ever existed.  She has to change her position for a better angle, moving to the foot of the bed and tugging them off on the way.  She gets caught up in looking at Waverly, laying there in only her underwear and looking mildly impatient. 

Desire courses through her veins, making her feel in a way that she almost never has before. 

Nicole lays a hand on Waverly’s ankle and pushes the pads of her fingers up her leg to trek her movements, giving in to her desire.  She’s pressing her body heavily against Waverly’s, kissing her soundly on the lips.  She thinks, for a moment, that Waverly isn’t expecting it because she gasps against Nicole’s mouth. 

And she’s so overwhelmed by the endless possibilities that she simply slips a hand between them and traces the edge of Waverly’s underwear.  All it takes is one smooth tongue swipe across her bottom lip from Waverly for her to claw at the underwear, pushing it down as she slides her hand beneath the fabric.  She’s touching Waverly, roughly and pointedly, tongue pushing Waverly’s back. 

She has to take her mouth back to breathe, sucking in a deep breath.  She says, “Is this ok?” 

“Uh huh,” Waverly responds throatily with a firm nod of her head. 

“Can I?”

“Yeah,” Waverly says.

Waverly moves her hands to Nicole’s ass and pulls forward.  Nicole’s hips jut forward, pelvic bone slamming into her hand and fingers sliding against Waverly.  She groans softly.  From there it’s all clawing and kissing.  Their bodies move in tandem, hips bucking in a rhythm.  Waverly’s mouth elicits noises of gasps and moans that sound like music, spurring Nicole on.  Her jeans have moved further down her legs with Waverly’s encouragement. 

When Waverly replicates her, pushing Nicole’s underwear over her hips and searching for Nicole’s center, it nearly makes Nicole come undone.  It really doesn’t take long after that, not with the incessant pressure of her jaunty hip rhythm.  She’s groaning out how close she is when Waverly cries into her ear. 

Her body is warm and thriving as it shakes, only being comforted by the sound of Waverly breathing heavily.  Waverly’s free hand pulls her close, holding Nicole’s body flush against hers.  Nicole doesn’t complain as she stills her movements, letting the cool air spreading throughout the room hug her. 

It’s only when she hears the credit music roll does she sigh deeply and push herself up with her hand to look at Waverly. 

“Was that ok?” Nicole murmurs.  She must have been such a disappointment.  Even sloppy-drunk Nicole is better than stupidly-in-love Nicole.  She wouldn’t be surprised if Waverly breaks up with her after this.  She doesn’t give Waverly an opportunity to respond.  “Shit.  I…fuck.” 

“Baby,” Waverly whispers. 

Nicole grumbles and shifts her weight, stretching her back out against the mattress. 

“Did you at least…?” Nicole asks, staring up at the ceiling.  She covers her eyes, afraid to look at Waverly’s disappointed face.  She releases a heavy-hearted sigh.  “I’m sorry.” 

“Hey,” Waverly says softly.  She feels Waverly leaning over her, pushing her hand across Nicole’s stomach.  Waverly rests her forehead against Nicole’s hand and lightly kisses her at the corner of her mouth.  “You gave me exactly what I wanted.”  

Nicole feels her body vibrating, tears springing to just behind her eyes.  She says, “Hang on.  I’ll be right back.”  

She gets up quickly so Waverly can’t protest and goes into the bathroom to collect herself.  She pulls her jeans back up around her hips along the way, getting herself as straightened out as possible.  She only spends a few minutes collecting herself.  She just feels so overwhelmed with emotions.  

She sighs heavily before she opens the door and what she sees on the other side of it is an adorable looking Waverly, giving her a kind, reassuring smile from under the comforts of the blanket.  

“Are you ok, baby?” Waverly hums as Nicole climbs back into the bed.  

“Yeah,” Nicole says.  She doesn’t even believe herself but she knows that she needs to make this right.  She pushes her jeans off and kicks them to the floor.  She musters her steady voice and says, “Come here.”

Waverly immediately curls into her side, snuggling into her and sliding her hand across Nicole’s stomach.  

“I like this,” Waverly murmurs.  

Nicole feels a tightness in her chest.  She asks, “Like what?”  

“Being with you,” Waverly replies, “Like this.  Like we just were.”

“Oh,” Nicole says slowly, almost not believing her.  She decides to turn her body to face Waverly, wrapping her arms around her so she won’t leave.  She says, “I was rushing and I just, I don’t know what I was thinking.”  

“Can I tell you what I was thinking?” Waverly asks.  

“Sure,” Nicole reluctantly agrees, preparing herself for the worst.  

“I was thinking you’re pretty and sweet and it was perfect,” Waverly says, “I was nervous, too.  I’m afraid of disappointing you, too.  Did I?  Did I disappoint you?”  

“What?” Nicole says quickly, confused, “No.  I feel lucky.”  

“I’m the lucky one,” Waverly purrs happily.  

Waverly nuzzles into her neck, kissing her skin quickly.  

Nicole finally allows herself to breathe.  

When she does that, she finally smiles, content in thinking that Waverly’s going to stick around.  The comfort in that feeling comes when Waverly falls asleep in her arms.  She’s even still clutching on to Nicole like she doesn’t want Nicole to disappear into thin air.  

Nicole is 100%, stupidly in love with Waverly Earp.  

And there’s no going back for her now.  


	8. Box Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole spends some time not so alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to wait until after Expo to give dat update, yo

It’s a typical shitty Monday that is far less shitty because of Waverly.  Yeah, school was school and practice was grueling and Shae was lingering too much again, but at least she’s with Waverly now.  Getting in some alone time that was intended to be a much needed French study session.

But instead of learning the French language, Waverly keeps distracting her with French kissing.

“Baby,” Nicole husks out.  She has each hand on one of Waverly’s thighs, wrists just above her knees.  They’re sitting in the kitchen because they agreed going into Nicole’s bedroom was not conducive to learning.  “You’re supposed to be teaching me French.”

“I am,” Waverly says, casually shaking her upper body from side to side in a cheeky dance.  She follows it up with a wink.  Nicole laughs.

“As much as I love making out with you,” Nicole says, smirking, “It will not help me pass this quiz.”

Nicole has spent a lot of time thinking about what happened.  She knows it was less than perfect, but she also knows there was hours of build up before she even let herself think about going there.  And, as afraid as she was that Waverly would run for the hills, she feels like it’s already brought them closer.

She feels now that she had been overwhelmed with so many emotions that she started overthinking it.

“But, baby, you’re so good at it,” Waverly says.

She tilts her chin down and looks up at Nicole.  They did get 3 questions in, Nicole reasons with herself.  She tilts her head to the side to think about it before she finally gives in.  She quickly checks her watch before reaching for Waverly’s hand and gives it a light tug.

“Ok, we have about twenty minutes before you have to leave,” Nicole says, “Come make out with me.”

Waverly lets out a small squee as she quickly jumps to her feet and deposits herself onto Nicole’s lap.  Nicole wraps her arms around Waverly’s waist and Waverly lifts her hands to Nicole’s neck.  They start kissing again, hands doing their best to stay firm against hips and necks.

They don’t have time for anything else.  Waverly has to be home in half an hour for dinner.  She originally conveyed this to Nicole with a voice that was decided and quickly followed up with her being borderline in trouble for not going home on Saturday night because she fell asleep at Nicole’s house.  Again.  Waverly could stand to be in a little trouble every once and a while.

Maybe they are as good for each other as Nicole thought.

After a couple of minutes, Waverly tests her greatest amount of willpower by planting a trail of kisses down Nicole’s neck.  Nicole gulps it away, only closing her eyes and letting Waverly do her exploring.  Waverly very quickly finds a pulse point against Nicole’s skin right around where her shirt is buttoned and starts sucking there.  Nicole sighs happily, getting a little too turned on than time allots.

“Stop teasing me,” Nicole murmurs.  She lifts her hand to Waverly’s chin and tilts her head up for Nicole to look at her.  Waverly is smirking and it’s so damn sexy.  “You have to leave in...”

She hesitates to check her watch and outwardly groans.  She says, “Ten minutes.  You’re getting me all worked up just to leave me.”

“Oh no,” Waverly says with a smile, “I’m leaving you with something to think about.  So you don’t forget about me.”

“Like that would happen,” Nicole says softly, “You’re like...the hottest chick I know.”

“The hottest?” Waverly echoes, eyebrows doing a dance on her face as her mouth pulls into an exaggerated feigned look, “More like not.”

“You’re the hottest to me,” Nicole repeats more sternly, “And my opinion is the only opinion that matters.  Now, pucker up. I still have some chapstick left.”

Waverly presses a laugh against her mouth.

One that Nicole thinks about after Waverly leaves and she’s all alone.

|

“Baby, baby,” Nicole whispers, “Wait. Just give me a sec.”

Her week has not gone ideally.  Tuesday’s basketball game had resulted in scouts rumored to be there but not a single one talked to her.  Wednesday had been frustrating to say the least between Shae trying to talk to her all day in a way that was annoying as hell and Waverly being stuck at home, studying.  Thursday was, well, a Thursday with practice harder than normal.

But today?

Today is supposed to be looking up.

She currently has Waverly weighted down in the uncomfortable back end of her Land Rover, seats folded down and a window cracked.  They had to leave school for an hour and a half before the bus trickles out for their hour long bus ride for their away game.  After grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant, they made it back to the school with at least 20 minutes to kill.  It had started out with an uncomfortable make out session in the front seat before Waverly coaxed her into a slightly less uncomfortable make out session in the back.

“Nicole,” Waverly coos, hands pulling around to her cheeks.

“Wait,” she says again, whispering.  Waverly’s hand trails down her sternum and she thinks about that adorable hickey Waverly left on her skin. It’s finally starting to fade away.  “I just wanted to check.  They know you’re staying at my house tonight, right?”

“Yes,” Waverly confirms.

“I just wanted to be sure,” Nicole says, “I’m, uh, looking forward to it and I just don’t...”

“Me too,” Waverly agrees.

“I don’t want to get you into trouble,” Nicole says.

“You don’t,” Waverly insists, hands sliding down Nicole’s neck and coming to a stop on her collarbones, “It’s my fault.  I just, I guess I was scared to tell them.”

“I don’t think you planned on staying over,” Nicole says.

“No, I wasn’t,” Waverly says.  She has a particularly weird look on her face, one that Nicole can’t decipher.  She swallows thickly and looks away.  She says, “I was scared to tell them about you.”

“Oh,” Nicole says.  She doesn’t really know what to say.  She can’t say she blames Waverly for not telling her aunt and uncle.  Nicole doesn’t know how much her parents would know if they were around.  Granted, her parents don’t care about what’s going on with her.  “Well...”

“God,” Waverly huffs, tears maybe even watering her eyes but Nicole can’t be sure because she looks away so quickly, “You must be so mad at me”

“What?” Nicole says, taken aback, “No, no.  I just don’t know what to say.  I honestly don’t think my parents know either.  Not because I don’t want to tell them.  I just don’t think I’ve talked to them really since they left.”

“They haven’t talked to you in weeks?” Waverly asks, facial expression appearing surprised and slightly annoyed.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Nicole says, shrugging.  She sits up, leaning back against the wall of the car and looking at Waverly, who immediately tucks a hand beneath her head.  Nicole thinks she looks adorable, maybe even sexy, as always.  “They’re busy and it doesn’t really bother me anymore.”

“Well, Uncle Curtis and Aunt Gus want to have you over for dinner on Sunday.  Is that ok?”

“Do you want that?” Nicole starts, feeling nervous around Waverly again for the first time in a few days, “Because if not, I can decline.  Or lie and say my parents are home.”

“No, it’s ok,” Waverly says, smiling reassuringly, “I want you to meet them.  Again.  I think.”

Nicole smirks slightly in a futile attempt to shake her nerves.  She gets Waverly’s hesitation.   She really does.  They’ve known each other for a long time, she even knows Gus and Curtis, but this will be the first time she’s seen them since she and Waverly started dating.  They’ve drifted apart and are only just now finding their way back.

“Well, I want to if you want me to,” Nicole says.  She looks up to see the bus in front of the school now, snow beginning to fall casually in the air.  It doesn’t seem to stick to the ground but she is suddenly very aware that her car window is cracked.  “We should probably head to the bus.” 

“Ok,” Waverly says, absently agreeing. 

Nicole quickly scrambles to the front of the car and rolls up the windows before helping Waverly back into the front seat.  They proceed to grab their bags before heading to the bus.  When they do get to the bus, it’s almost half full.  Nicole wonders how everyone got passed them so easily since they were there before anyone else, but she was probably just distracted.

It doesn’t take long for everyone else to climb onto the bus and get settled for the 30-minute ride.

They are sitting in front of Chrissy and Stephanie with Waverly on the outside.  Truthfully, Nicole is more annoyed than she should be because they keep talking to Waverly and she really hasn’t had as much time with Waverly this week as she wanted.  They didn’t get a chance to see each other much throughout the week outside of school.  Gus and Curtis have been a little harder on Waverly.  She hasn’t been spending much time at home since her mom and Wynonna left.

Every once in a while she will reach for Waverly’s hand, accidentally distracting her from a conversation she’s in with Chrissy.  Nicole feels badly about this until Waverly glances at her with a simple smile and threads their fingers together, barely even breaking the conversation.  Nicole admires Waverly’s ability to balance many things at one time.

The bus is in action for about 15 minutes before a silence lulls between Waverly and her friends.  During this silence, Waverly leans more against her side and even wraps Nicole’s arm around her shoulders.  Their hands are still interlocked in front of Waverly’s chest, and she forgets every stress that has been building about the game.

Nicole settles more into the seat, back awkwardly pressed against both the seat and the window, and turns her head to look at Waverly more clearly.

“Are you ok?” Nicole asks.

She moves her left hand to Waverly’s ribs, running her hand across Waverly’s torso.  She feels herself beginning to pick up where they left off, her body responding to the way Waverly’s is pressed against hers.  She splays her hands out against Waverly’s stomach.

“Yes,” Waverly mutters softly.  She lifts Nicole’s hand to her mouth and presses a kiss against Nicole’s knuckles.  She says, “I’m just...I’m a little cold.”

“I’ve got you,” Nicole replies.  She tightens her arms around Waverly and tries to warm her up a bit more.  “Is this helping?”

Waverly gives her a small nod.

A few minutes of silence, or as silent as it can possibly be with a bus full of people, pass between them.  Nicole notices that her body heat isn’t really warming Waverly up much so she begrudgingly releases her hold to stand up and shrug her jacket off.  Waverly quietly protests as she does so, but Nicole is intent on keeping her promise that Waverly will never be cold around her.

As she’s shrugging the jacket off, she notices Champ in the seat in front of her.  She loudly sighs, effectively making Champ turn his attention to her.  She hands her jacket to Waverly before sitting back down, audibly groaning as she watches Champ turn around in his seat.

“Hey, Haught,” he says, snide look on his face, “Did you hear?  Scouts are coming to see me play.”

“Oh yeah?” She asks, voice not even hiding her annoyance, “I hope you don’t disappoint.”

She glances to her side and sees Waverly pulling her hair out of the jacket.  Waverly then presses their thighs together and wraps both arms around Nicole’s one, encircling Nicole’s hand with both of hers.  She leans extremely close before placing her lips against Nicole’s jaw in a chaste display of affection.

“Guess I’ll keep you warm now,” she whispers, doing her best to ignore Champ’s presence.  Nicole quickly squeezes her hand back in response.

“Ready for homecoming next week, Waves?” Champ says, too smug for Nicole’s liking, “You and me, arm in arm like it should be.  I’m ready for that kiss you promised.”

Nicole tenses at that but makes an instinctive decision to just ignore the bait.  Champ has always had a thing for Waverly and everyone has known it.  He’s just jealous.  But she can’t help reacting.  She likes Waverly so much and the last thing she wants is to think about something like that.

“Champ,” Waverly says with a heavy sigh.  She scoots even closer to Nicole, as if that’s possible, and presses her cheek against Nicole’s upper arm.  Nicole nearly forgets about the discomfort of Champ staring at them, but Waverly doesn’t seem to forget.  “I didn’t say that.”

“I know, baby,” Nicole says.

Waverly can’t seem to look up at her like she’s afraid Nicole will be angry.  For a moment, Nicole wonders what has happened to Waverly that she’s always afraid that Nicole is going to be mad.  She hooks a finger beneath Waverly’s chin and silently instructs her to look at her, connecting their gazes.  She leans down and plants a soft kiss against Waverly’s lips.

“Hey, Champ,” Waverly says, voice stern but warm as she looks away from Nicole, “Would you stop saying things about me like that?  I don’t like it, and I also have a girlfriend.”

“Sure, Waverly,” he says dismissively.

He grumbles a bit as he turns back around in his seat.

Nicole looks back at Waverly, offering her a small smile.

Chrissy gets Waverly’s attention again and they chat the rest of the way to the school.

She holds Waverly’s hand into the gym, only letting go when they get to the locker room.  She says goodbye with the tips of her fingers hanging on to Waverly’s.  She gets ready for the game quickly, changing into her uniform, listening to Coach Lucado’s speech, and heading out to the court.  She locks eyes with her girlfriend as she gets onto the court, team already lining up for warm ups.  Nicole stretches out as she does this, Waverly giving her a sly yet shy wink.

Waverly manages to calm her nerves that are beginning to fray with just a reassuring look.

Throughout the game, four 3-pointers, 5 free throws, and a total of 28 points, she finds solace in Waverly cheering her on.  Her team wins with ease, blowing their competition out of the water.  She knows she plays a decent game, hardly tired at any given moment, but she feels she doesn’t do enough to catch the attention of any possible scout in the stands.

It’s when she’s walking back to the locker room after shaking her opponents hand that she’s approached by a man she doesn’t recognize.  He’s wearing a sweater with a pair of khaki pants.  She feels a little intimidated at the sight of him at first.

Until he says, “Miss Haught?  Hi, I’m from Marquette.  I just wanted to say you played really well tonight.  I might be able to coax an offer, if you’re interested.”

She’s a little floored so she doesn’t manage any words, just vigorously nods her head.  She honestly had reached a point that she thought maybe scouts weren’t interested.  She’s been losing hope that she would get an offer, becoming resigned that she would just have to sit around and see what comes to her.

The man who handed her his card but didn’t give her his name has barely rounded the corner when Waverly approaches her with question on her face.  A smile spreads across Nicole’s face as she opens her arms, motioning for Waverly to come into them.  For a moment, they both forget that Nicole is sweaty.

When Waverly settles back onto her heels, she has a smile on her face that warms Nicole.  She absolutely knows that whatever she feels for Waverly is a once in a lifetime feeling.  Looking down at Waverly, she doesn’t even know anymore how she keeps it in.

“You did so good, baby,” Waverly murmurs.

“Waves,” Nicole says, words escaping her, “That was a scout.”

“Oh my god,” Waverly says loudly.

Waverly launches herself forward and Nicole barely catches her.  She feels Waverly press a kiss against her throat and she angles her chin upward in response.  They stay together for a few minutes, the boys’ team passing them by like they don’t really exist.

“My best baby,” Waverly murmurs.

Nicole sighs in content before they part ways.  She heads to the locker room to shower and change.  Waverly returns to the bleachers for the remainder of her minutes of relaxation and, by the time Nicole exits the locker room dressed in a fresh pair of clothing, the boys’ game has already started.  Waverly is looking cute doing her cheers.  Nicole pulls her books out of her bag and does what little homework she has.  By the time the game is over she doesn’t have any left.

The bus ride back is quiet.  Even Champ keeps his mouth to himself.  Nicole has one hand touching Waverly at all times, their comfort with each other increasing with ease in the last week.

When they get back to Nicole’s house, Waverly’s Jeep parked there already and Nicole’s Land Rover settling in behind her, they head upstairs to Nicole’s room.  They both drop their bags to the floor and meet somewhere in the middle of the room.  They remove each other’s clothes with less nerves than the first time, laughter spilling out at first but quickly being replaced with noises of pleasure, understanding.

|

Nicole feels herself wake up rather quickly and, for the first time in as long as she can remember, she wants to stay in bed for as long as possible instead of getting up and going for a run.  She mostly attributes that to Waverly being huddled against her, wearing a tank top and a pair of short shorts, skin impossibly warm.  She’s acutely aware of the fact that Waverly’s boob is pressed against her arm, soft skin reminding her of all of the things they’d done the night before.

It had been much different than the first time.  There was a certain closeness that Nicole felt and she’s pretty sure Waverly felt it, too, like they weren’t just having sex.  Nicole thinks that maybe they had been making love.

Her desire to stay in bed next to someone else is something completely new.  She rolls onto her side, dipping her already too warm skin into Waverly’s as she slips a leg between hers.  She wraps her arm around Waverly’s middle and pulls her impossibly closer.  Waverly’s thighs tighten around her knee as they tangle together and Nicole realizes she’s never had a feeling quite like this.

She could get used to this, waking up to Waverly’s body pressed against hers and feeling so loved that she just wants to let it all spill over.

“I love you,” she whispers, finally letting this feeling she’s been ignoring spill out.  She figures Waverly is asleep so there’s no harm, no foul.  At least it’s out there and she can breathe a little easier.

Her heart stops beating when Waverly’s fingers almost immediately tap against her ribs, exposed because she had opted not to put a shirt back on but her sports bra instead.  She’s pretty sure she’s been caught and now she’s embarrassed enough that she starts thinking maybe she should go on that run.  She wishes she never would have said anything.

Waverly stretches and stretches her body against Nicole’s, their stomachs pressing together and hips flush.  She feels her body aching everywhere that Waverly touches her, despite it barely being anywhere.  She stills her movements, waiting to see if Waverly is still asleep or could possibly fall back to sleep, when she feels Waverly’s mouth on her instead.  She’s pressing lazy kisses against Nicole’s chest and she thinks that if Waverly did hear her, it didn’t make her run for the hills.

Nicole isn’t entirely sure that Waverly is aware of what’s happening, possibly even still asleep, until she pulls back with a smile.

“Morning, baby,” she says sleepily.

“Morning,” Nicole replies.

They didn’t talk much when they got back from the game, didn’t discuss the scout approaching her much more than they had in the gym.  Partially because on the bus Champ probably would have found a way to insert himself into the conversation.  When they get back to Nicole’s, she quickly righted what she felt she had wronged the first time since they had ample opportunity.

“Mmm,” Waverly hums, “You’re so warm.”

“A bonus blanket,” Nicole supplies.

Waverly grins widely, pressing the smile against Nicole’s mouth.  During the quick kiss, Nicole manages to maneuver her hand to Waverly’s back, fingers slithering into the space between the hem of her shorts and hem of her top.  The pads of her fingers sweep against flesh, silently urging Waverly more into her.

“But you’re not on top of me,” Waverly points out then, the slightest of pouts on her mouth suddenly.

Nicole’s heart strings tug.

She feels nothing but love again.

“Shouldn’t I at least brush my teeth?” Nicole asks.

There’s a beat of silence, Waverly folding into Nicole.

She says, “But I’m not ready to get out of this bed.”

Nicole presses her hand against Waverly’s spine, comforting her with a small movement of her hand.  Waverly curls an arm around her, hugging her tightly.  They lay there like that for a while, until their stomachs start growling and they have to get dressed to go somewhere for food.

After they eat, they go back to Nicole’s house and fall into a domesticity that Nicole’s never truly experienced before. 

She thinks she could really get used to this.

|

Waverly drags Nicole to the mall.  Nicole follows along to whatever store Waverly wants to go to, but she never wants anything.  She takes pictures of clothes she likes, even trying on a few elegant prom dresses for the future.  Nicole sneaks a few pictures of her in them.  In one she says something that makes Waverly laugh so her eyes crinkle.  Nicole has the urge to make this one her background. 

Nicole drives them back from the mall and takes Waverly back to her house.  They go up to Nicole’s room, laying on the bed where Nicole throws herself back onto the mattress and Waverly curls up to her side with ease.  They lay like that for a while, just being together and feeling each other’s warmth.  They are silent, not really speaking, Nicole’s fingers tracing shapes on Waverly’s back.

Within an hour, they have to get up to head to Waverly’s house.  They take their separate cars.  Nicole’s nerves flare up on her drive over, following behind Waverly in her Jeep.  She parks behind Waverly in the long driveway, getting out with a heavy sigh.

“You ok, baby?” Waverly asks, closing the distance between them.

She’s struggling with her duffel bag as she approaches and Nicole quickly reaches out to take it before she can sling it over her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Nicole confirms.  She lifts the bag and places it on her shoulder, pressing into her side.  She takes a long look at Waverly’s face before her nerves even begin to shake off.  She lifts an arm and steps into Waverly, encircling her in a loose embrace.  “I just want them to like me.”

“Oh, they’ll like you,” Waverly says reassuringly.  She feels Waverly circle her arms around her waist, hugging her back tightly.  The wind catches slightly, a cold chill rushing through the air and making Waverly burrow into her more.  She tilts her chin upward to look Nicole in the eye.  “Don’t worry so much, baby.”

“I can’t help it.  I just really like you,” Nicole admits.  She offers Waverly a small smile before kissing her, the kiss soft and quick.  When she pulls back, Waverly is tilting her head and giving her a smile in return.  “So I’m nervous.”

“I’ll be with you,” Waverly purrs soothingly.

Nicole nods gently.

They head into the house, Waverly a half step in front of her.  She feels nervous again as the front door opens, but she feels Waverly’s hand squeeze hers.  It helps her for a second, literally, until she looks up and sees a man jumping to his feet from a chair in the living room. 

“Hey!” He greets loudly, crossing the room in large strides.  His smile is wide, both like Waverly’s and unlike hers.  He wraps Waverly into a side hug, forcing Waverly to release Nicole’s hand.  Her hand flails in the air for a moment, not sure what to do with.  “My, my, Nicole Haught.  You’re all grown up.”

“Heh,” she breathes nervously.  He’s extending his hand to her and she instinctively takes it.  She remembers him from when she was younger as always being kind and warm.  His wife, on the other hand, has always been harder to crack.  “Mister McCready.”

“Please,” he says, releasing her hand, “Call me Curtis.”

“Ok, Curtis,” she says, voice sounding shaky to even herself.

He smiles again, mouth wider and kind.  He releases his hold on Waverly, giving them space.  He says something about going into the kitchen and suggests that they put Waverly’s stuff up in her room before he disappears into another room.

She follows Waverly up the stairs, clutching Waverly’s bag of dirty clothes as she goes.  They reach a bedroom at the top of the stairs.  She takes a good look around and notes that the bedroom is smaller than hers but also cozier.  Their styles are different.  Waverly has her room decorated in bright colors, white furniture, pictures of her with friends and family hanging on the wall.

For a stupid, weird moment, Nicole thinks if Waverly wanted to decorate their house like this then she wouldn’t put up much of a fight.

“Your bedroom is cute,” Nicole says, a smile spreading across her mouth as Waverly reaches for her hand.

Their hands twist around each other’s, eagerly trying to slide them together, and she finally uses the other hand to set Waverly’s bag on the floor.  She steps forward, leading her backwards to Waverly’s bed.  It’s smaller than Nicole’s is, maybe just a full sized bed.

“You think?” Waverly asks, mouth taking a flirtatious shape.

“Yeah,” Nicole confirms with a nod, “Like you.”

“Hm,” Waverly acknowledges with a sexy chuckle.

Waverly steps back more aggressively, dragging Nicole with her as she falls back onto the mattress.  Nicole falls on top of her, reaching out to catch herself with one hand so she doesn’t crush Waverly with her weight.  Waverly’s pulling her knee up to Nicole’s hip, skinny jeans tightening, and a laugh falls out of her mouth.

Nicole follows the sound, dropping a kiss to Waverly’s mouth and swallowing her laughter by deepening the kiss.  She feels Waverly’s hands slip under her layers, press against her back and against the skin despite her jacket and sweater and t-shirt beneath that.  She feels more skin become exposed to air and hesitates, pulling back from the kiss with a sigh.

“I’m not going to defile you in your bedroom,” Nicole says, voice barely above a whisper.

Waverly pouts.  She says, “You defiled me in your bedroom.  Many times.”

“Ok, calm down,” Nicole replies, “That was different.  I’m not trying to get myself uninvited to your house.”

Waverly makes an exaggerated sigh, playing off of it in such a dramatic manner that Nicole can’t help kissing her throat as she throws her head back.  Her leg wobbles, pressure coming and going from Nicole’s hip.  Waverly delves one hand into her own hair and looks past Nicole’s returning gaze.  She looks up in search of Waverly’s eyes and she looks at her suddenly, smile spreading across her face.

“You can always sneak in through the window,” Waverly says.

“Waverly Earp,” Nicole says, voice teasing, “Are you trying to get into trouble?”

Waverly pouts again.  She shakes her head slowly.  She says, “I’m just going to miss you.”

Nicole exhales, realizing suddenly that Waverly either didn’t hear her the day before or wasn’t scared by it.

“You’ll see me tomorrow,” Nicole points out.

“It isn’t the same,” Waverly huffs.

“I know, baby,” Nicole hums, “Besides, we still have dinner to get through.”

The words have barely left her mouth when Curtis is calling up the stairs after them.  Waverly’s hand presses against her shoulder and Nicole responds by relinquishing the weight on her.  Feet on the floor, Nicole extends a hand for Waverly to take and helps her up as well.  She uses Waverly as a sort of barrier, following her down the stairs and removing jackets at her command before heading into the kitchen.

Gus stands near the stove with a stern face, jaw tight and eyes focused.  Nicole feels immediately intimidated from two steps behind Waverly, almost afraid to directly look at Gus.  Waverly gestures to a chair next to where Curtis is sitting and she sits across from that chair.  Nicole sighs heavily, almost too noticeably, her nerves beginning to flare now that there’s space between her and Waverly.

Two days and she’s already co-dependant.

“So, Nicole,” Curtis starts, briefly interrupted by Gus moving towards the table, “Talk around town is that your parents are away on business.”

“Uh,” she says.  Swallowing thickly as she takes a seat, she begins to feel her insides panic.  She doesn’t want to talk about them, really.  She has nothing to say.  “Yeah, I believe so.”

Gus sets a plate with stacks of steak on the table.  An assortment of foods quickly follows and she’s sitting down beside Nicole.  Gus doesn’t quite smile when she looks over at Nicole, but she isn’t quite scowling either.

Dinner goes on politely.

Gus warms up to her a bit throughout the course of the meal, commenting on school and asking how classes are going this semester so far.  Truthfully, she started out the semester the way the last one ended.  Her grades are steady, gradually pulling up from the C average she had been stalled at.  She has a lot to be proud about.

After dinner, Waverly insists that she and Nicole clean up.  Nicole doesn’t protest, thinking that it’s probably a good idea to do the extra mile the first time she has a meal at their house.  Besides, it’s the first time she’s had a home cooked meal in a long time.

Her stomach feels full and she ultimately feels like it went well.


	9. Triple Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Champ really doesn't know when to quit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really bad at posting this when I think I will, but here I am, a day late and a dollar short.

The week passes by fairly quickly.  The buildup of the homecoming basketball game runs through the halls at school and she’s constantly reminded of how Waverly and Champ are walking together.  Not that she is worried about what could happen as much as she’s worried about how inappropriate Champ will be.

She doesn’t hear from her parents and she doesn’t really get to see Waverly all that much.  Practice runs long most days, except for the day of their game.  She spends time with Waverly on the bus then, but they don’t have much time to talk because it’s a short ride.  It’s also loud.

Friday rolls around and Nicole is really feeling her lack of Waverly time.  She’s comforted by the fact that Waverly is going to do a repeat of the weekend before, staying at her house for the next two nights.  It’s silly, but she feels incredibly close to Waverly now.  Closer than she’s ever felt to anyone else before.  Maybe even her parents.

The homecoming game has had the gym packed through the first quarter and a half.  Even then, the noise has been incredibly different with half of the cheer squad missing.  Especially Waverly’s surprisingly booming voice. Chrissy, Stephanie and Shae are all members of homecoming court as well.  They pretty much round out the volume of the squad.

Nicole tries to be focused throughout her game but, after nearly 4 years of having the cheer squad and Waverly over the last few months cheer her on, she feels a little off kilter.  She still manages to win the game.  She only has a few solid numbers though, her point value much lower than any other game this season.

The game sounds with a loud buzzer and she’s filled with relief.

She finally breathes as she settles into the after game routine of handshakes with the other team.  Shortly after, however, the routine is switched up a bit.  They get told to go to their bench to watch the homecoming court enter the gym.

She sits through the presentation of the court, clapping along politely as they announce everyone.  She even manages a convincing smile when they say Shae’s name.  She waits with baited breath for Waverly’s entrance.  Nicole didn’t catch a glimpse of the dress before, but it’s an elegant teal with a poofy material around the base, lace obvious from where she’s sitting.

Nicole shakes her legs throughout, her subconscious willing this to hurry along so she can move on from having to watch her girlfriend playing a part with Champ.  They are announced king and queen, as expected, and she claps along with everyone else.  Her clapping stops, eyes widening, as Champ takes Waverly off guard and kisses her square on the mouth.

The gym erupts into cheers that echo around the space and it makes Nicole’s skin crawl.  The feeling hangs around despite Waverly’s clearly disgusted look on her face, and Nicole clinches a fist tightly on her thigh.  She watches the court exit the gym and nearly sprints to follow the moment her team is excused.

She manages to hold her composure as she passes Champ, narrowly missing a shoulder check she wants to give him so bad that her bones ache at the thought.  Nicole barrels into the hallway, passing by congratulatory groups trying to talk to all the ladies all dressed up.  Catching sight of Waverly, who’s visibly struggling to hold herself together, Nicole feels rage wash over her again.  She’s fairly certain she’s going to get a stern talking to from her coach at the way she bolted out of there, ignoring the locker room and the customary speech that comes with it, but someone she cares about is definitely in trouble.

“Waves,” she says softly as she finally catches up, pressing a hand against Waverly’s elbow to fully get her girlfriend’s attention, “Are you ok?”

Waverly stutters in response, not really managing any words to follow. 

“Baby,” Nicole encourages softly, “Are you ok?”

“I’m...” Waverly starts, wildly looking around like she’s searching for some clarity, “In shock.”

“He shouldn’t have done that,” Nicole says quickly.  She’s filled with rage again at the thought of Champ laying his pesky lips on Waverly’s totally kissable ones, but she’s doing her best to remain present rather than going AWOL on Waverly in this moment.  She leans back against the wall, careful to stay within arm’s reach of Waverly.  “That was...that was not cool.”

“He’s just,” Waverly says, again faltering.  Nicole can see an excuse dying on her tongue.  Waverly has the ability to give everyone a pass, sometimes too many passes.  “He’s a jerk.”

“I know, baby,” Nicole hums, “Come here.”

She reaches for Waverly’s hand and pulls her towards where Nicole is leaning.  Thankfully, Waverly complies easily and seeks comfort in Nicole’s arms.  Her beautiful hairdo is being messed up as she leans into Nicole.  She feels the encouragement to wrap both arms around Waverly as the newly appointed queen of homecoming court collects herself.  The hallway clears a bit as time passes, other court members and their congratulatory posse clearing out.

A few minutes pass, silence steadfast between them, before one of her teammates appears in the doorway with a warning look on her face.  Nicole sighs loudly, but doesn’t acknowledge it in any other way.  Not when Waverly needs her so much.

Everything happened so fast that Nicole didn’t even really get to see Waverly in her dress.

Eventually, they decide to move.  The clock shows the boys game will start in less than a minute.  Waverly and Nicole both still have to change.  They reluctantly go their separate ways, Waverly heading to wherever they had gotten ready and Nicole going to the locker room to get changed.

By the time Nicole is finished changing (and getting a nice reaming from Coach Lucado), Waverly is already poised in her place with the cheerleaders.  Her smiles are weak, not quite touching her eyes.  Nicole feels badly about the situation, the spot that Waverly is in.  But she’s filled with that rage again when Champ looks over at Waverly and smirks before winking.

The interim between first and second quarter offers something that Nicole isn’t expecting.  She gets a lot of sad looks from classmates, ones who no doubt know that her and Waverly have been dating.  She’s annoyed at Champ again, but something seems to be hitting Waverly harder.  She watches her girlfriend carefully but still isn’t expecting her face to turn into the scariest Earp face she’s ever seen before she completely ditches her squad and heads towards Nicole.

Waverly simply outstretches her hand for Nicole to take and she’s barely able to as Waverly doesn’t really slow down at all.  At least she sat on the bottom row.  She follows Waverly outside, silently wondering exactly what they are doing.  It doesn’t take long for Waverly to fill her in.

“Let’s go,” Waverly grumbles.  She begins stomping towards Nicole’s car as her car is currently parked in Nicole’s driveway.  Nicole has no choice to follow, only about two steps behind.  “You would not believe them.  They won’t stop making what happened a big deal.  It’s so...rude.”

Nicole quickly starts the car so it will warm up at least a little by the time they get to it.

“Baby,” Nicole says, voice soft and pleading, “Are you ok?”

“I just want to go home,” Waverly says, voice grave.  Her pace slows and she matches Nicole’s.  Nicole is a little surprised when Waverly grabs her hand, pulling her closer until they reach the car.  “I want to be with you.”

“You got it, baby,” Nicole says quickly.

|

Over the weekend, Champ is a non-starter.  They don’t mention the homecoming stint and Nicole is kind of glad about it.  Waverly won’t let her get too far from her reach, insisting that they spend most of Saturday watching movies and cuddling.  Nicole doesn’t complain about it, not really, but she is concerned that Waverly is more upset than she’s letting on.  She doesn’t bring it up, letting Waverly take the lead.

They spend all day Saturday on Nicole’s room, only leaving it for food.  They kiss lazily throughout the day but Nicole doesn’t really push her to do anything else, not after the homecoming incident.  Waverly spends most of the day pulling Nicole’s arms around her anyway, holding her tightly in return.

By the time Sunday afternoon rolls around, they decide they really need to do their homework.  Well, Waverly decides and Nicole, trying to keep up her grades, reluctantly agrees.  She doesn’t miss her work out on Sunday, not after missing it on Saturday, and she’s coming out of the shower to Waverly with books spread all across her bed.  Waverly makes a very compelling argument.

She sits down in front of her books and starts trying to decipher her homework.  The math has gotten a bit more difficult and Waverly was waiting on her to start just to make sure Nicole really has it down.  At least, that’s what she thinks when she looks over at Waverly’s nose in her history book.  She’s staring at Waverly when she finishes her history reading and closes the book.

Waverly smiles but it’s lacking something.  Nicole purses her lips together, watching the way that Waverly edges closer and piles all of her books up.  She finally settles into the space where she can look over Nicole’s book.  Nicole can feel it.  Something is off.

Reaching over, Nicole lightly places her hand on Waverly’s thigh, hoping to offer her comfort.  She doesn’t know what’s on Waverly’s mind, but she’s suddenly determined to get it out of her.  She absently squeezes Waverly’s leg, searching her face for some kind of response.  She doesn’t get one.  In fact, Waverly immediately delves into Nicole’s understanding of the homework.

They go over the homework for quite a bit. Nicole has a better understanding about it by the time Waverly throws herself back on the bed.  Nicole watches her curl up cutely into the pillows and she follows Waverly up the bed.  She spreads out on her stomach, tugging a pillow free to tuck under her head.

“What are you thinking?” Nicole asks.

“I’m thinking I want a nap,” Waverly says, smiling down at Nicole.

Waverly’s gaze flutters away easily, something clearly bothering her.  Nicole sighs heavily.  She pushes up on her arms and sits on the center of the bed, crossing her legs in front of her.  Her jeans stretch on her legs and her sweater bunches at her stomach.

“I’m sorry teaching me is so tiring,” Nicole murmurs.  She doesn’t mean to sound so self-depreciating, but she’s concerned about Waverly.  They’ve spent all weekend together and Waverly has mostly only been slightly happy while curled around Nicole.  “I have that jock brain.”

Waverly hums behind a smile, not quite laughing.  She looks back at Nicole again, her eyes softening but her hands pulling out of Nicole’s reach.  This is alarming to her considering how clingy Waverly has been.

“I was just thinking,” Waverly says, voice sounding small.  Nicole offers her both ears and keeps her mouth shut.  The last thing she wants is to make Waverly feel like she can’t open up.  “Next year is going to be totally different.  We won’t be in the same classes.  We might not even be at the same school.”

“Well,” Nicole says, taking in a deep breath, “I don’t know where I’m going yet.”

“What?” Waverly says sharply, sitting up rather quickly.  Nicole leans back, Waverly’s gaze boring into her until she feels like she’s on fire.  She squirms a little in hopes that she can thwart Waverly’s anger.  “You haven’t applied anywhere?”

“Well, no...”

“Jesus, Nicole,” Waverly says, clearly annoyed, “You aren’t even thinking about your future.  It’s like, god, it’s like you don’t care at all.”

“Of course I care,” Nicole replies, “I just, it’s complicated.”

“God, we’re gonna go to different colleges and you’re going to break up with me,” Waverly says, frustration evident on her face.  Nicole doesn’t even have time to really take in the expression before she’s covering her face with her hands, blocking Nicole’s view.  She reaches out to catch Waverly but she doesn’t lock in around the wrist.  “I should have known better.  I should have known I was just your final high school fling before you went off to college, making those eyes at any girl who passes.”

“What?” Nicole says, shocked, “Waves, I’m not breaking up with you.  I love you.  And college is a couple months away.  We still have spring break and prom and finals and graduation and summer to get through before college.  No one is breaking up with anyone.”

“You don’t care about me at all,” Waverly says, louder than Nicole expects.  Waverly scatters forward, pulling at all of her things and starting to stuff it away in her backpack.  “Jesus.  You haven’t asked me at all what I’m thinking about college, where I’ve applied, where I want to go.  I should have known.  This doesn’t mean anything to you.”

“Oh, baby,” Nicole says, voice catching in her throat, “You’re wrong about that.  You mean everything to me.  I just don’t, I can’t just decide where I’m going to college without basketball.”

“Have you even thought about it?”

“Honestly?” Nicole says, folding within herself as she looks up at Waverly’s towering form, “No, I haven’t.  I’ve only had one scout talk to me and it’s a good school, but I don’t know where to go with the prospect.”

“What are you waiting for, Nicole?” Waverly snaps, “You don’t have to wait to break up with me.  If that’s what you want, just do it.”

“I’m not-“ The words barely leave her mouth before Waverly is briskly putting distance between them.  Brain slowly connecting the dots, she realizes that Waverly is grabbing all of her things before heading towards the door.  “Hey, Waves, wait.”

Nicole can’t even get to her feet by the time Waverly is headed down the stairs.  She’s barely made it to the top of the stairs when Waverly slams the front door behind her.  Nicole is left confused, tears beginning to slip down her cheeks.

What a great way to end a great weekend.

|

Monday and Tuesday at school are both awkward.  Waverly is avoiding her to say the least.  In fact, it’s slightly infuriating that she’s being avoided because she didn’t really do anything.  How is she really supposed to make this decision about college alone?  The most guidance she’s gotten has been from her coach.  She hasn’t even managed to seek out the guidance counselor.  She just hasn’t had time.

On Tuesday night they have an away game.  Waverly hasn’t responded to her texts and has efficiently ignored her phone calls.  Nicole returns to the school with only a few minutes to spare before she’s late to loading on the bus.  When she climbs on the bus is practically full.  Her eyes immediately land on Waverly who is sitting next to Chrissy, but Nicole doesn’t bother to let her gaze linger before sitting in a seat rather close to the front.

Thankfully, the bus ride is short.  She doesn’t have to deal with a seat mate trying to talk to her about things she’s doesn’t care about and she’s the first one off of the bus.  She’s in the locker room, getting dressed, when she hears her phone chime.  She pulls her jersey top on before sitting down on the bench, opting to glance at her phone before she pulls on her basketball shoes.

Peering at the phone, she sees that Waverly has finally decided to respond.  The text wishes her luck on the game and she ignores that feeling deep down in her stomach.  Her nerves have been fraying all day, doubled due to Waverly not really talking to her.  Instead of replying, she tucks her phone away in her bag.

As much as she would like to address this now, she doesn’t have time.  Coach Lucado will come barreling in at any moment to double check that everyone is ready to go and she will be less than thrilled about any distractions.  She can only hope that Waverly will still be open to communication after the game.

It isn’t very long before they are being rushed out of the locker room and towards the court.  Nicole silently follows Lucado’s lead, only being mildly distracted when she locks eyes with Waverly.  She offers Waverly a smile and is filled with a sense of relief as Waverly smiles back.

Nicole does her pre-game stretches and warm ups.  She manages to only look Waverly’s way once or twice, not locking eyes or even going noticed.  Waverly is too busy going over a cheer with the squad, doing her own version of warmups.

The game starts and finishes rather quickly. Nicole scores 26 points and gets a good grip on the game, handling the ball in a fashion that showed everyone she has complete control over the results.  After the game she goes to the locker with her team, but ligers in there longer than anyone else.  She decides to wait until she gets home to shower, making a mental note that she needs to do laundry, too.  When she’s completely dressed in her school attire, a light blue long sleeve button up with black pants and a pair of Nike high tops with light blue on them, she finally checks her phone.

She has 3 missed notifications, surprisingly all from Waverly.  She opens them with apprehension, really not sure what Waverly is going to say to her.  She’s received them all in the last 5 minutes.  She thinks she scans over them with one eye closed.

_You did amazing._

_Can we talk?_

_I miss you_

Nicole feels relief course through her.  At least knowing that Waverly misses her makes her feel a little better.  She knows that, regardless, they are only in this rough patch because Waverly is scared that they’re going to break up anyway.  Part of her knows it’s too soon, but she just has to make it clear to Waverly that she isn’t breaking up with her because she loves her.

She exits the locker room and is met with Waverly leaning against the wall opposite of the hallway.  She stands still, not really sure how to approach the lion.  Luckily, the lion comes to her.

Waverly pushes off of the wall gracefully, sashaying towards Nicole.  Her heart lurches into her throat.  She grasps the strap of her bag, clinging to it like it’s offering her safety.

And Nicole fully intends on letting Waverly take the reins until she accidentally says, “So you miss me, huh?”

“I hate fighting with you,” Waverly says, a slight lilt to her tone.

She lets her shoulders drop, her demeanor softening at the admission.  She looks down her nose at Waverly, seeing the desperation in them.  Nicole manages to drop her tough exterior and says, “I hate it, too.”

She doesn’t reach out and touch Waverly, but keeps her hands firmly tucked near her body.  She’s waiting for Waverly to touch her, to see where they stand.  She really hates this not knowing.

“I guess I’m just...scared,” Waverly admits slowly.

“Nothing to be scared about, baby,” Nicole says softly, finally giving in and reaching up to cup Waverly’s cheek, “I’m not going to break up with you.  I love you.”

“You love me?”

“Well,” Nicole says, suddenly feeling a little too raw, “Yeah.  Of course.  You’re amazing.  I just, like...”

She trails off.  She doesn’t want to say too much.  She doesn’t want to admit that she might just do whatever this girl wants and Waverly might not even love her back.

“What is it?” Waverly encourages softly.

Nicole sucks in a deep breath, deciding to just let it all out.  She’s madly in love with Waverly Earp.  She’s pretty sure they both know it.  She finally says, “Where you go, I go.”

“Nicole Haught,” Waverly hums.  She watches Waverly’s eyes close as she leans into Nicole’s touch.  She feels everything shift slowly but surely.  Waverly finally reaches out and circles her arms around Nicole’s waist.  Nicole melts into it, wrapping both arms tightly around Waverly’s shoulders.  It’s a few blissful minutes before Waverly pulls back a little, tilts her head upwards and says, “I love you, too.”

Not wasting any time, Nicole leans down and connects their lips for the first time in a few days.  Her fights with Shae never hit this hard.  She’s felt a little lost while fighting with Waverly.  She’s honestly surprised she was able to focus even for a second throughout the entire game.  Waverly kisses her back just as hard, the desperation there.

The buzzer in the gym cuts their moment short, reminding them both that Waverly still has to go back out there and cheer for the boys’ game.  Waverly holds her hand tightly, dragging her into the gym and not releasing her hand until she absolutely has to.  This makes Nicole feel a like everybody is watching her as Waverly guides her to a free spot on a bench near to the where the cheerleading squad is and tells her to sit there.  Nicole complies, ignoring everyone else around them.

She sits on the bench throughout the disastrous game, Waverly sneaking over between quarters to make up for the time they weren’t speaking.  The game seems to take forever but they are practically the first ones out of the gym when it’s over.  They climb onto the bus first, heading towards the very back to utilize what little time they’ll have alone.

They talk a bit.  They discuss Waverly’s plans for college and Nicole simply nods along, taking as many mental notes as is possible.  She’s going to listen to what Waverly has in her mind so she can prove she’s serious, planning to talk to Coach Lucado tomorrow.  After chatting about college a bit, they quiet down as others begin loading onto the bus.

She wraps her arms around Waverly to help keep her warm in the cool night air.  She feels a bit like she’s making up for lost time, which is weird because they’ve only been fighting for 2 days.  She laughs at herself.  If Waverly notices she doesn’t say anything.

In no time at all, everyone else has loaded onto the bus.  Everyone, Nicole included, seems tired and ready to get home and go to bed.  The only thing she isn’t particularly excited about is leaving Waverly.  When they do get back to the school, they part reluctantly, but they do exchange text messages when they both get home.

Nicole showers before bed.  After practice the next day she asks Coach Lucado to help her get the attention of a few schools that Waverly said she applied.  Nicole feels pretty good about this decision, despite having dated for not even an entire month yet.

This is only the beginning; she can feel it.


	10. Assist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best part about fighting is making up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't going to update because I'm lazy. Also because I wanted an additional break between January and February. But Sophie, whom I love so very much, wants an update and I agree that she deserves one. So, hi, Sophie. This is for you.

**_FEBRUARY_ **

 

 

 

 

Nicole, fresh off another win, waits patiently in the hallway.  After the buzzer indicated that the boys game was over, she decided to wait in the hallway for her girlfriend who, on occasion, gets tied up in being far more sociable than Nicole.  Granted, she typically has a good span of time to socialize and whatnot with people after her own game whereas Waverly does not.

She absently leans against the wall and scrolls through her phone, looking at text messages that she has exchanged with Waverly over the past few days.  She’s tried to be a little more vulnerable and communicative since their fight, attempting to text more than she particularly has before.  They’ve exchanged a few I love you’s and one or two slightly risqué pictures that catch her eye.  Her chest is filled with warmth as she starts smiling at her phone.

“Whatcha smiling at, baby?” Nicole hears, ripping her attention away from her phone.

She swallows thickly and manages a grin, saying, “A picture of my beautiful girlfriend.”

She hasn’t even lifted the phone screen entirely in Waverly’s direction before Waverly is panicking, moving at a faster pace to cover the screen.  Nicole watches Waverly take a quick look around as she pulls the device from Nicole’s clutches, exiting out of the picture entirely and locking the phone.  Waverly has a scowl on her face when she looks back up at Nicole, poised and ready to fire.

“Nicole,” she chastises, voice the cutest whine Nicole has ever heard.

“Don’t worry, baby,” Nicole soothes, “Nobody else saw it.”

Waverly huffs absently, shoving Nicole’s phone back into her hands.  Her bottom lip juts out as Nicole takes her phone back and quickly buries it into her pocket.  Waverly says, “I just don’t want anyone other than you to see it.”

“Trust me, I don’t want anyone other than me to see it either,” Nicole says, voice grave at the thought, “Not with all these horny teenage boys running around talking about how sexy you look in your uniform.”

She shudders as the words leave her mouth and braces herself on Waverly’s hips, dropping her hands to them.  She closes the space between them as Waverly begins to smile and lift her hands to the crease of Nicole’s elbows.  Nicole sighs loudly and adds, “They’re right, but I don’t need to hear it.”

“You look sexy in your uniform too,” Waverly says, almost like she’s just being polite.  At least, that’s what Nicole thinks until she feels Waverly’s fingers wrap around her biceps and squeeze before running along the muscles there.  “All muscular and sweaty.”

“Ha,” Nicole blurts out, not sure why she is reacting so loudly, “The sweat really does it for you?”

“Well, not so much the sweat part as much as the you part,” Waverly hums.

“You’re the cutest,” Nicole says with a small chuckle.  Waverly smiles back at her before pressing up on her toes to kiss Nicole’s mouth.  She pulls back from Waverly’s kiss, Waverly’s grip on her arms only tightening, and manages a smile.  “You ready?”

“Yeah,” Waverly murmurs, “I’m starving.”

They follow the crowd out of the gym to Nicole’s vehicle, Waverly’s Jeep already sitting in Nicole’s driveway.  Nicole gets the car started as they exit the school, hoping that it’ll be at least a little warm in the February chill by the time they get to it.  They stop for some unhealthy food on the way back to Nicole’s house and scarf it down in the kitchen before heading upstairs.

Nicole yawns as she climbs the stairs, feeling as exhausted as her body is feeling.  She strips out of her after game clothes and puts them in the hamper, changing into a pair of gym shorts and a tank top.  Waverly does the same, changing into something that has a bit more warmth.  Nicole finishes first but even then Waverly excuses herself to the bathroom.

While alone, she flips on her Apple TV and starts browsing through a few of the things Waverly added to it the last time she was over, hoping to find a good movie that’s on their list of things to watch.  She finds something she’s seen before due to the knowledge that she probably won’t even make it through the first half hour.  She leans back on the bed and lets her eyes close, only managing to crack them open when Waverly opens the bathroom door.  She smiles softly, the exhaustion rendering her still.  Waverly smiles back and it perks her up a bit.

Waverly quickly curls up in the bed, cuddling with the blankets.  Nicole pouts at this and scoots closer, trying to close the space between them.  She expertly wraps her arms around Waverly, relieved when Waverly settles into her front.  The weight feels nice.

Nicole sighs happily and says, “I missed you, baby.”

“I missed you, too,” Waverly replies, “Let’s not fight like that ever again.”

“I hated it,” Nicole says, softening, “Not talking sucks, but girlfriends fight sometimes.”

“I don’t want to fight with you.  Especially not when,” Waverly hesitates and rolls over in Nicole’s arms to look in her eyes, “We don’t have forever to be together.”

“Oh, baby,” Nicole says.  She presses a kiss to Waverly’s cheek, letting her lips linger there.  She briefly thinks about those moments with Shae when on the rare occasion she said something like that and Nicole just nodded along.  She can’t do that with Waverly.  Instead, she says, “We’ll be together as long as you want me.  I even talked to Coach Lucado about getting scouts from the schools you want to go to.  I don’t, I don’t want to leave you.”

“You...?  What...?” Waverly says, sounding so small and almost shocked.

“It doesn’t matter to me where I go as long as I get to play basketball,” Nicole says, “And getting to be with you is one of my favorite things.  If it means I can be with you, then I want to do it.”

“I...don’t know what to say,” Waverly replies, “How can you be sure?”

“Because, baby,” Nicole says, pressing closer, “I’m in love with you.  I would do anything you asked of me.  I would do anything to be with you.  I can play basketball anywhere, but there’s only one you.”

“Awe,” Waverly coos.  Nicole watches her face crease and fold into a bright smile that makes every bit of Nicole’s insides warm.  She feels like screaming in pure joy at being the cause of that look on Waverly’s face.  “I love you so much, baby.”

“Me too,” Nicole says softly, “More than anything.”

They kiss tenderly for awhile, pausing to find something to put on the television until Nicole starts to drift off to sleep.

|

The mall is a typical kind of Sunday afternoon crowded.  Still, they walk around and get a look at the upcoming winter fashions.  Nicole tries on a few things.  Waverly tries on a few things.  They make it out of the mall with just a few items, a handful of selfies, and a good idea of what Waverly’s taste in clothing are.

For Nicole anyway.

Sure, she has known Waverly for a long time, but she didn’t always pay her much attention.  Waverly was always cute, even sometimes sexy, but Nicole had whatever she had with Shae.  Not to mention that Waverly seemed a bit too much like a goody-goody for Nicole’s liking.  Nothing like Wynonna who Nicole actually found to be less straight laced and rather enjoyable.

Getting to know Waverly has opened her eyes to a few things.  It’s helped her get her own priorities straight.  In fact, before Waverly, she hadn’t realized how tired she was becoming of all of the parties and caring about her parents’ opinions on her.  Yeah, she had wanted them or anyone to truly care about her, but now someone does.  At least, she believes that Waverly cares about her.  That’s how she feels when Waverly reaches out for her while they’re walking around.

The drive back to town is about an hour and 15 minutes.  During this time, she plays music that Waverly sings along with.  They chat idly about schoolwork, basketball games for the next week, but Nicole keeps her ideas for what they can do for Valentine’s Day in a few weeks to herself.  She hasn’t particularly spent a lot of time thinking about it, not with them recently fighting and all, but she has started to entertain the idea over the weekend.

They’ve done a bit of making up for lost time over the weekend.  Even in the car they basically hold hands the entire time.  Nicole only wants Waverly to know that she can trust her, that she’s willing to follow Waverly anywhere in the world that she wants to go.  There’s also a sense of sadness she feels when she pulls in the McCready driveway, the realization that they will be parting ways soon hitting her hard.  The big house feels lonely without Waverly since she started spending weekends over.

Dinner with Gus and Curtis is enjoyable as always.  She and Waverly clean up, making sure the kitchen is practically spotless.  By the time they finish, however, it is nearly 10 o’clock and they don’t have much time left for the evening.  Although Waverly is smart and has the best time management skills out of them all, or so Waverly has told Nicole before, Gus and Curtis still have an 11 o’clock curfew that works both ways - on school nights, Waverly has to be home and Nicole has to be out the door.  Regardless, Nicole has gathered that they are aware of her home situation and thinks they’d go easy on her if they were to try pushing for more time.

Nicole is spread across Waverly’s bed on her stomach as she watches her girlfriend tidy up her bedroom.  There’s a picture of them on Waverly’s nightstand which appears to be new.  Nicole absently wonders if Waverly put that up within the last week, within the time that they were fighting and then made up.

Nicole sighs loudly at this thought, rolling over onto her back.  She reaches out, finger tips stretching far as she lightly brushes Waverly’s floral skirt.  The cotton material bends at the contact, and Nicole says, “Baby, come here.  We don’t have long before I have to go home.”

Waverly slowly turns her gaze to Nicole.  She sees a shine in Waverly’s eyes, a gleam in them that indicates she’s either crying or nearly there.  Nicole sighs again, the noise one of pain slipping between her lips at the sight.

“Oh, baby,” Nicole hums as Waverly steps close enough for her to make skin on skin contact, “Don’t cry.  If you cry, I’m going to cry.”

“You don’t even know why I’m crying,” Waverly says, lowering herself onto the bed beside Nicole.

“I have an idea,” she mutters in response.  Waverly immediately buries her face in Nicole’s neck, a wetness from the now falling tears pressing into her skin.  Her body is instantly warm from Waverly’s warmth that she’s giving off, and it makes a chill run through Nicole’s skin.  “It’ll be ok.”

“I know,” Waverly says, lifting her head slightly but still somehow managing to arch closer, “But you’re going to leave and go back to that big house to be all by yourself after I almost broke up with you because I love you so much I was afraid you were going to pick basketball over me, but you didn’t and I just want to be with you.”

Nicole thinks Waverly only manages one breath as all of the words come tumbling out.  Waverly is adorable when she rambles, which is something she only does about subjects she’s passionate about.  This makes Nicole’s own eyes fill with tears, her body warm and cold at the same time.

She drops one hand to Waverly’s hip and lifts the other, delving it into Waverly’s hair.  She stares at Waverly then, taking in the shape of her mouth and the vulnerable look in her eyes.  She finally clears the frog in her throat and manages to say, “I know, baby.  There’ll come a time that we come home to each other.  Just, for now, find peace in knowing that you...are my home.”

“Nicole,” Waverly coos, a fresh set of tears poking at the corners of her eyes.

“What?” Nicole asks, “Too cheesy?”

Waverly just shakes her head, unabashedly letting the tears fall.  Nicole’s heart aches at this.  Nothing is more painful than watching Waverly cry and she thinks it’s going to be a thing she will never get used to.  She really hates it, every bit of it.

The feeling of Waverly’s fingertips playing with a button on her shirt distracts her for a moment, just long enough for a smile to touch her lips.  It seems to help ease the sadness in the moment.  She feels Waverly’s chin lightly slide across her chest, repositioning herself against Nicole.

A few minutes pass and Waverly’s tears seem to have stopped falling.  At least from what Nicole can tell.  Her cheeks are still a little wet when she looks up at Nicole, but Nicole lightly kisses those spots at her cheekbones.  She lets her mouth linger against Waverly’s skin as she wraps both arms around her.  Nicole attempts to comfort her with her warmth, but she isn’t sure she’s succeeding.

“I wish you didn’t have to leave,” Waverly murmurs.

“I know,” Nicole replies.  She lifts a hand and runs it through Waverly’s long, brunette hair.  Her fingers get tangled in Waverly’s hair, and she wishes she didn’t have to leave.  Sleeping without Waverly after getting to spend the weekend sleeping beside her always leaves a hole in her heart.  “One day though, baby.  We’ll have all the time in the world.”

“You’ll call me when you get home?” Waverly asks.

Nicole feels Waverly’s palm press against her chest and a weight becoming heavier there.  With Waverly’s face suddenly hovering over hers, Nicole can’t help but tuck her arm beneath her head and smile up at her girlfriend.  She says, “Of course.  If I can’t have you in my arms, I definitely want to hear your voice.”

Waverly hums before leaning down and planting a soft kiss on Nicole’s lips.

It seems like not enough time has passed before the Gus alarm is going off with a soft warning carrying up the stairs.  With the door open, they hear her loud and clear.  Nicole barely stifles a groan but Waverly certainly doesn’t hide her pout, not even when they walk out to Nicole’s car so Waverly can tell her goodbye.

The drive home is lonely and boring.  The streets are practically abandoned in the night, the town heading off to sleep for another lively week of basketball games and wholesome community fun.  She’s barely in the door before she’s calling Waverly, and she listens to her chat away about whatever makes her beautiful heart feel content until they’re both too tired to stay awake any longer.

Still, the bed is cold and an integral part of her is missing.

|

Waverly looks stunning.  Nicole would most likely always say that anyway, at least since Waverly grew into her body, but she looks even more stunning in her date attire.  The short skirt and low cut button up shirt really makes Nicole feel not quite as attractive in her own clothing.  Almost like she should go home to change quickly before coming back to the restaurant.  She could always dip out for the bathroom and run home, this town isn’t that big.

But, she doesn’t really want to miss a single moment of their first date out on the town.  Seeing as it’s a school night and they’ve barely been able to pencil this dinner in, which took a lot of convincing on Waverly’s behalf.  Gus is a tough nut to crack.  Curtis?  A bit easier to show him the big picture.

So, instead, Nicole sits across from arguably the most beautiful woman in all of town wearing something that doesn’t even really pass the test.  Now that she’s noticed Waverly changed after school into something a bit more...revealing.  She goes for it and unhooks the top button on her shirt while Waverly isn’t looking.

“I’m glad we got to do this,” Nicole says, quickly bringing Waverly’s attention back to her.  She doesn’t even count to three before Waverly’s eyes widen more and her fingers begin tapping against the table.  “I feel like I haven’t been able to take you out properly yet.”

“A full month,” Waverly hums.  Nicole gulps, audibly, as Waverly leans against the edge of the table and her shirt tightens just a tad bit more.  This was possibly a horrible idea.  “Just...thank you.”

“What?” Nicole asks, sobering immediately, “I don’t - I think, I should be the one thanking you.”

“Nicole, that’s-“

“No, hear me out,” Nicole interrupts.  She reaches across the table for Waverly’s hand and threads their fingers together.  She smiles slightly, lowering her gaze to their hands and noting how perfectly they fit together.  “God, before you, my life was a mess.  I was failing all of my classes and no one truly cared about me.  All I had was basketball.  People were always around me but I was still so alone.  But, you...you make me feel not so alone anymore.”

The wind picks up around them and she watches the loose strands of Waverly’s hair get caught in the breeze.  Everything about this woman across the table from her is just perfect in every way, perfect for her.  Her heartbeat is loud in her ears and the muscle in her chest leap frogs into her throat.

“You make me feel cared for,” Nicole says softly, “And I can’t remember the last time I felt that way.”

“Oh,” Waverly says, breath coming out as a sigh, “Baby, I hate that you ever felt differently.”

“It’s okay,” Nicole insists, “I have you now, don’t I?”

“Yes,” Waverly says softly.  They both fall silent for a moment, and Nicole watches Waverly slowly glance around the warm patio.  It’s mostly empty due to the February temperature, but the restaurant managed to wrangle up some space heaters for Purgatory’s sweethearts.  She’s filled with confusion as Waverly stands and makes her way around the table.  Instinctively, she pushes her chair back and makes room with barely enough time for Waverly to lower herself into Nicole’s lap.  She adds, “You have all of me.”

Nicole grins as she circles her arms around Waverly’s waist.  Leaning forward, she’s graced with a warm kiss to her mouth that makes her feel like the world around her is on fire.  It doesn’t deepen, not more than the slight brush of their tongues across lips, but it does go on for a few minutes.

They only break apart when they hear the door open and their waiter return with their appetizer, something vegetarian that she thought Waverly might like to try.  They chat aimlessly about things that happened throughout the day, mostly gossip they’d heard while they were at their respective practices or those two classes they don’t have together.  Waverly is in AP History while Nicole is lucky to have a low B in regular History class.  She also finds out about Wynonna’s travels with Michelle, how _The Banditos_ are more popular in the smaller towns than Waverly has even imagined.  Nicole hasn’t actually met Waverly’s mother so she gets a few stories about Michelle.

After they’ve finished eating their meals, Waverly excuses herself to the restroom.  Nicole uses this time to throw some cash on the table to pay the bill, tipping the familiar waiter a decent amount, arguably more than he deserves.  He seemed scared of her the entire meal, almost unsure of what to do caught in her presence, and she recognizes him from school.  She makes her way inside and that’s when she sees Shae talking to Waverly.  She can’t read lips from across the room but she does find some comfort in the fact that Waverly has a genuine smile when she heads back towards Nicole.

They put on their coats and head to the car.  Nicole makes sure that Waverly is settled before closing the door and heading towards the driver side.  When she gets in, the car is warm.  Waverly seems to still be shivering slightly anyway.  She absently checks the time and sees that it’s almost 9.  They have 2 hours before Waverly has to be home.

“Anything in particular you’d like to do now?” Nicole asks.

“Can we just go back to my house?” Waverly asks, “I’m getting tired.”

Suspicious, Nicole drives them back to the McCready house prepared to drop Waverly off.  The entire drive, she asks herself what exactly Shae could have said to Waverly after such an amazing time together that it would ruin anything.  She thinks of an argument, one that makes it abundantly clear that Shae is a liar, but when she pulls into the driveway the words die on her tongue.

“Come in?” Waverly requests with a very enticing smile.

She nods wordlessly and shuts off the car.  She follows Waverly into the house, noting that the house itself is quiet enough that it might be empty.  They are also quiet as they move around the house, heading up the stairs with weightless steps.  There’s a flash of light and the sound of the television echoes around the still house.

It’s dark when they reach the top of the stairs.  She hesitates but Waverly grabs her hand to pull her forward with the skill of a person who grew up in the home.  She tugs Nicole into her bedroom, barely crossing the threshold before she feels Waverly’s hand leave her own.  Waverly presses her palms against Nicole’s biceps and it takes Nicole off guard, the darkness save from the streetlamp pouring in leaving her a little unsteady.

Waverly pulls Nicole’s arms around her.  Quickly succumbing to Waverly’s lead, Nicole’s slightly parted lips are met by Waverly’s.  The kiss is harder than Nicole expects and Waverly’s hands press into Nicole’s stomach.  She follows Waverly’s movements forward, Waverly moving backwards, until they slowly settle onto the bed.  Waverly slips her leg between Nicole’s, shifting her weight onto Nicole and she quickly complies.  Parting her knees more, Nicole pulls a hand down between them and pushes against Waverly’s hip.

Her brain is slowly catching up.

“Baby, wait,” Nicole breathes out, resting her forehead against Waverly’s, “We gotta slow down.”

“Nicole, please,” Waverly leans into her more.  Her eyes are adjusting to the darkness.  She looks down between them to see Waverly reaching for her hand, promptly sliding it down her thigh.  She releases Nicole’s hand and braces herself on Nicole’s shoulders.  “It’ll be fine.”

Nicole chuckles into the darkness and says, “It won’t be.  You’re too loud.”

“I can be quiet,” Waverly insists, voice a whisper.  She punctuates her statement by leaning down and planting a trail of kisses against Nicole’s skin starting at her collar bone, only stopping at her ear lobe.  “I’ll be quiet.”

Nicole groans, maybe a little too loudly.  Waverly pulls back, smirk painted across her lips so widely that Nicole can see her teeth in the darkness.  Waverly says, “You’re being too loud.”

“Baby, they’re downstairs,” Nicole whispers, “Your door is open.”

Despite the logical words falling out of her mouth, Nicole slips her hand beneath Waverly’s short skirt.  The skirt has already ridden up Waverly’s body and is sticking to her thighs around her pelvic region.  Her fingertips must tickle Waverly’s fancy just right because she’s moaning quite dramatically and rolling onto her back.

Nicole follows and husks out, “Fine.  You got me.”

“I knew I could get you,” Waverly replies with a grin.

Nicole watches as Waverly tucks her bottom lip between her teeth and the smugness is so undeniably sexy on Waverly’s face that Nicole has to give herself a moment to breathe.  With her hand already pressed against Waverly’s thigh, she feels her body kick in as if on autopilot.  She leans down to press her mouth against Waverly’s chest between her breasts, the deep neckline exposing just a bit more skin now that Waverly’s squirming.  Nicole bites at the skin, sucking softly and keeping Waverly’s ever going mind occupied enough that when she moves her hand to Waverly’s inner thigh Nicole feels her shiver beneath the touch.

Waverly releases a breath into the dark room and it seems to echo off of the walls, but it’s quickly drowned out by the sound of the television downstairs.  Nicole leaves what she’s sure will be a tacky hickey that Waverly can easily hide to look up at Waverly’s face.  She can trace the outline of her beautiful features in the darkness, Waverly’s hair a glow around her head in a way that makes Nicole think she looks like an angel.

“Everything ok?” Nicole asks.

“Yes,” Waverly replies.  Nicole feels a firm hand wrap around her wrist, guiding her touch upwards until her fingers press against wet underwear.  She takes in a sharp breath, wondering at what point Waverly became so turned on she was uncomfortably soaked.  “I’m hot for you.”

“You are,” Nicole absently agrees, voice strained, “So sexy.”

“Come on then,” Waverly replies, bucking her hips.

“Jesus,” Nicole mutters.  She stills for a moment, gathering her breath, looking down at Waverly’s angelic face and losing every last piece of clear thinking she has left in her jock brain.  She nods slowly in agreement and says, “Okay, okay.  Just let me...”

She doesn’t quite finish her thought because she doesn’t know what she’s going to do just yet.  All she knows is that she’s losing her mind and will probably be forced to park around the corner before sneaking in through the window from now on.  She finally decides to just go for it and tugs at Waverly’s panties, moving them out of the way so she can get to Waverly’s entrance.  Working her index finger around Waverly’s clit, she sighs at the feeling but it turns into a much deeper sound than she intended.

“Yes, baby,” Waverly says throatily.

“Shh,” Nicole replies gently, pausing in her movements to add, “You have to be quiet.”

“I’m being quiet,” Waverly says.  She bucks her hips again in response, Nicole’s fingers slipping against the wetness.  Waverly sighs, strained in the darkness as Nicole rests more of her weight on Waverly’s side.  “God, yes.”

“Baby, baby,” Nicole mutters, rushed in her words like she’s trying to get her brain to cooperate, “God, it’s so sexy when you’re like this.”

“Like what?” Waverly asks.

Her body is responding to Nicole’s touch and she can see Waverly starting to unravel.  She guesses there’s a sense of danger doing this in Waverly’s dark bedroom with the door open and her guardians downstairs, no wiser to what they’re doing.  The few times they’ve been here, they haven’t even tried anything like this.

“Restrained, I guess,” Nicole says.  The truth is, she likes when Waverly is loud, but there’s something about watching her trying to stifle the noise that makes Nicole get even more turned on.  She continues slowly moving her fingers against Waverly’s wet center, smirking as Waverly arches her back more into the touch.  “You want to scream.”

“Yes,” Waverly moans, moving her face into Nicole’s neck.  Nicole feels Waverly’s hands press into the small of her back, holding their bodies more firmly together.  Planting a kiss on Waverly’s exposed skin, she moves her hand a little faster.  “That feels good.”

“Yeah?” Nicole says against Waverly’s throat, “I want to make you feel good.”

“You do.”

“God,” Nicole groans then, hand losing its pace between Waverly’s legs, “You’re so beautiful, Waves.  I’m so lucky.”

Waverly moves a bit at that, angling her body differently against Nicole’s.  She pulls her knee towards her chest and spreads her legs more widely.  Nicole sighs again before dropping her forehead to Waverly’s.  She picks up speed. She allows herself to get messier with time as Waverly’s hips thrust out of rhythm, the feeling around her fingers soft and warm.

“Don’t stop,” Waverly says a bit too loudly when Nicole falters to a cramp in her hand.

She nods dumbly.

Waverly starts panting when she pushes in harder and it comes rather quickly, the edge Waverly topples over with a whine.  She feels the rest of Waverly’s body stop moving beneath her and Nicole wonders if she’s even breathing.  Nicole keeps her hand moving sloppily until Waverly reaches to grasp her wrist.

“Wait,” Waverly sighs.

“What?” The confusion slides across her face, she can feel it.

“I’m just,” Waverly starts and stops quickly, like she’s thinking what she wants to say for an extended period of time, “Spent.”

Nicole nods slowly, understanding completely that Waverly doesn’t think she can handle being touched anymore.  She withdrawals her hand from between Waverly’s legs.  Despite the understanding, Waverly turns and wraps her legs around Nicole thigh.  The wetness between Waverly’s thighs sticks to Nicole’s pants.

Waverly leans in and kisses her softly.

After a few minutes, she feels Waverly burrow more in her arms and bury her head beneath Nicole’s chin.  She tries not to revel in the feeling of Waverly in her arms, knowing that it’s coming to a close until Friday comes around.  Nicole manages to muster all of the will inside of her to jut her hips forward to jostle Waverly.

“Baby,” Nicole whispers, “I’m gonna go so you can get to bed.”

Waverly sighs with her entire body and says, “Ok.”

Peeling apart, they both get up and head down the stairs quietly.  The television in the living room is still going as they step outside into the cold night air.  Waverly immediately shivers and Nicole quickly concedes, wrapping her arms around her cold girlfriend to keep her warm.

“Thank you for tonight,” Waverly says into Nicole’s chest, “It was a good date.”

“I definitely thought it was about to take a curveball,” Nicole admits.

“What do you mean?”

She pulls back slightly to look at Waverly’s face in the light from the street lamp.  She smiles sheepishly.  She says, “Just with Shae at the restaurant.”

“Oh,” Waverly says, a small, uncomfortable laugh tumbling out, “She just...apologized.”

“Wow,” Nicole says.

She stares at Waverly openly and lets her eyes trail over her flushed features.  She should have been prepared for Waverly to get tired and clingy.  She always does.  She leans down and gives Waverly a deep kiss, not feeling too excited about parting for the day.

“Ok, baby,” she whispers against Waverly’s lips, “Goodnight.  I love you, ok?”

Waverly nods and gives her another chaste kiss.

Her hands still smell of Waverly when she gets home and it makes her entire body ache with sadness.

|

After a much needed nap surrounded by Waverly’s arms, she’s rested enough for the game that she nearly sets new school records on blocks.  Not to mention her point count is high as well as her assist number.  She’s one rebound short of hellacious numbers, but she’s feeling too tired at the final buzzer to care.

They win by a long shot against a team with a fairly decent record this year.  The win isn’t the only thing that keeps Nicole’s blood pumping after the buzzer.  She shakes hands with recruiters who have a lot to say to her about their schools, more invested in her future than the previous recruiter.  She absently wonders if after every game will be like this, hopes that it will be.

Once she frees up, sweat now dried against her skin, she only has a few minutes to sneak in a moment with Waverly.  She laughs at herself at the realization that she’s rather attached at the hip to her girlfriend.  The irony that there was once a time she had been officially dating someone who she almost couldn’t stand to be around and when she was she was miserable.

She keeps the news of the specific schools to herself for now when she does find Waverly, utilizing the few minutes to just see her smiling face.  Waverly is deep into a conversation with Chrissy, Stephanie, and even Shae and Jasmine are present.  Nicole is a little weirded out at the enjoyable looks on their faces like everyone is getting along.  She doesn’t pay attention to the conversation, just presses a quick kiss to Waverly’s cheek and excuses herself to shower.

By the time she gets cleaned up, dressed and into the rest of the gym, the game has started.  The boys are behind by a large number and Nicole almost feels sorry for them.  After depositing her bag in her car, she sits on the bleachers close to the cheerleaders.  Halfway through the second quarter, the cheerleaders take a break from cheering to prepare for their halftime show.

Their break consists of lounging in the bleachers around her.  Shae is incredibly close by as Waverly leans against Nicole’s legs.  It’s still awkward to have her ex-girlfriend close, especially when she’s with her new girlfriend, but no one else seems to pay any attention to it.

Waverly leans close and whispers into her ear, “You were amazing.”

“Thank you, baby,” she says back.  She finally smiles with Waverly’s attention on just her for a moment.  She forgets that everyone’s eyes might be on them, watching them as Waverly rests her chin on Nicole’s shoulder.  “It was that amazing nap.”

“No,” Waverly hums, “You’re always amazing.”

She feels a blush touch her cheeks as she dips her chin down towards her chest.  The hand sliding along her back presses against her tired shoulder and she feels herself being surrounded by Waverly’s delicious perfume.  She feels Waverly’s nose against her jaw and slide up to her ear.  She shivers.

“You’re amazing, too,” Nicole replies shakily.  She feels Waverly place a kiss below her ear and her breath catches in her throat.  Briefly, she thinks Waverly is purposely trying to torture her.  She strains out a throaty, “Waves.”

“Shit,” Waverly murmurs, weight quickly shifting off of her and lightening the load as she snaps back to reality, “Sorry.  I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Nicole hums comfortingly.  She turns her gaze to Waverly who seems to have her own flushed cheeks, slightly glassy eyes.  She sees that Waverly has slightly tortured herself as well. Nicole drops a hand to Waverly’s bare knee and shakes gently.  “No worries, babe.  We have all weekend.”

“I know,” Waverly says, perking up.

She gives Nicole a million-watt smile as her entire demeanor livens up, spine straightening and weight on Nicole’s shoulder returning.  There’s a promise on her face, one that warms Nicole’s heart.  Since their date a few days ago, Waverly has been insisting that she owes Nicole through texts and such.  She doesn’t agree but Waverly can be pretty stubborn when she sets her mind on something.

Nicole has so many more words of reassurance that die on her tongue.  Instead, she takes a quick look around to see that the other cheerleaders are mostly engaged in their own conversations.  Shae seems to look at her in that moment and she feels stupid, like Shae is going to think Nicole has been staring at her and is going to tell Waverly that lie.  Nicole receives a genuine smile that makes her head spin.

She squeezes Waverly’s knee in an attempt to remind herself that what she actually has is way better than the fear of what she used to have breaking them apart.  Not that she would ever run back to Shae, but she sure had a habit of scaring girls away.  Before Waverly, that is.

The buzzer sounds and Waverly sighs heavily.  She says, “I have to go.”

When Nicole locks eyes with her she sees a plump pout on Waverly’s bottom lip that all she wants to do is kiss away.  Nicole sighs, too, unable to really resist the look ever.  Nicole replies, “That’s not fair.”

“I know, but we have the halftime show,” Waverly says.  The whine in her voice for dramatic effect takes on a life of its own as Nicole forgets that the rest of the world is around them.  It’s insane to her that there is chatter when the best part of the boys game is only a few minutes away.  She gets to watch her sexy girlfriend perform a choreographed dance in a short skirt.  That’s why she sticks around.  “I promise, I’ll come back and steal you away after.”

“Ok, baby,” Nicole says with a nod.

Her heart lurches for many different reasons as Waverly breaks away from her.  She misses Waverly pressed against her, watches the way she walks away and tries not to stare too hard on Waverly’s perfectly muscled thighs that are exposed below the short skirt.

Leaning back against the bleachers, Nicole braces herself for the upcoming show.  The visiting cheerleaders get a short routine to hype up the visiting crowd before her girl gets to take the spotlight.  Her perfectly choreographed cheers are enough to make sitting through the disastrous boys games worth it.

She gets bored during the visiting team half time show so busies herself with her phone.  She doesn’t have much to look at.  Just a news app, some basketball stats, a fantasy basketball league she joined with a few girls from basketball camp over the summer.  She sees a few stagnant text conversations with the friends she’d made at basketball camp, ones who might even become teammates or possibly rivals next year.  Her heart swells at Waverly’s last text message, a simple declaration of heart and kiss emojis with a tiny ray of sunshine to lead them off, before she realizes she’s pretty boring these days.

She locks her phone back just in time to catch Waverly tumbling out to center court and flashing the room her spanks.  Having seen this routine so many times, Nicole knows she shouldn’t be so easily affected still.  If she were to admit to herself the truth that even when she was dating Shae her eyes were still drawn to Waverly then it would be a lot easier to say it’s always been like this for her.

She sighs and watches the show along with everyone else, content in knowing that Waverly came up with this herself and that it looks amazing.  She also feels a brief comfort in the knowledge that once this is over, Waverly is coming to whisk her away.  She really doesn’t know what Waverly has in mind, but she’s down for whatever.

Her legs cramp up and she stretches out as the cheerleaders finish their routine.  She goes back to browsing through her phone but doesn’t see anything new on the device.  The stands begin to fill up around her again but she doesn’t pay any mind to it.  She pulls up Instagram and quickly posts a picture of them she took at the mall over the weekend before.

She sighs a bit louder than she intends.  A parent gets her attention for a moment to tell her she played well.  She thanks them while locking her phone, engaging in idle chit chat until the buzzer starts for the third quarter.  Shoes squeak across the wooden floor, painted with the blue devil logo center court, and the game is back in action.

The attention turns back to the game and she tucks her phone away into her pocket.  When the gaggle of cheerleaders returns into the gym, Nicole tilts her head to the side and watches her girlfriend.  Waverly doesn’t look at her right away so she stares openly, her body feeling a little sluggish and worn out from how hard she pushed herself during the game.  It seems to take a few minutes before Waverly looks over at her with a reassuring smile.

Waverly finally breaks free with a little hop to her step as she closes the distance between them.  She grabs Nicole’s hand and mutters a soft, “Come ‘ere, baby.”

Standing up from the bleachers, Nicole feels her spine scream out in anger as she shakes her legs out.  She needs to stretch but, as Waverly slides their fingers together, she forgets about the need.  She finds herself being pulled out of the gym, towards the hallways opposite from the locker rooms until they’re standing in line at concession.

“Oh,” Nicole says, suddenly realizing where they are, “Are you hungry, baby?”

“A little,” Waverly says.

“You should have told me, I would have gone to get you something,” Nicole says.  She stands upright, stretching her spine and hearing it crack.  Reluctantly, she lets go of Waverly’s hand to lift her arms above her head and stretch a little more.

“I’ll just get a pretzel,” Waverly says with a shrug.

“Can you...can you eat that?” Nicole asks.  She throws an arm around Waverly’s shoulders and leans a little against her.  She sighs happily at the feeling of Waverly wrapping her arms around her waist.  Waverly looks up at her with a raised eyebrow.  “I just know you’re trying to go completely vegan and this shitty food can’t help.”

“I double checked,” Waverly replies, giving her middle a squeeze.  She gives a wide smile that touches her eyes and it makes Nicole’s heart melt.  “We can leave at the beginning of the fourth quarter, if you want.”

“Yes, please,” Nicole immediately says, angling her body more towards Waverly.  She shifts some more of her weight onto Waverly, dramatically deciding to admit how tired she is.  “I’m exhausted.”

She feels like she could fall asleep standing there waiting at the concession stand.  She feels Waverly run a hand through her hair and that absolutely does nothing to help matters.  She drops her head to Waverly’s shoulder, the movement making her body bend low.  The feeling of Waverly’s breath presses against her jaw and prompts her to swallow thickly.

“My poor, tired baby,” Waverly mutters, squeezing Nicole again.

Once they have food ordered, they return to the gym.  Waverly scarfs her food down and returns to cheering.  Nicole’s tired body slumps at her spot on the bleachers, and she lets her eyes close.  She’s jostled slightly by a gentle touch on her stomach just below her folded arms.  She peels her eyes open to see Waverly hovering over her, the light surrounding her beautifully.

They head out of the gym and towards her car.  She can barely muster the energy to say anything on their walk to the vehicle and almost asks Waverly to drive them home.  She didn’t realize how bad her sleeping has been without Waverly this week.  After their fight really took a toll on her.

When they get to her house, they climb the stairs.  Nicole isn’t even in her bedroom door when she starts peeling off her clothes and tossing them towards the hamper.  Waverly laughs behind her and presses her hands against Nicole’s hips.  It stills her in her movements, her pants unbuttoned and her t-shirt sticking to her shoulders.

“Be careful, baby,” Waverly mutters softly.  Waverly’s hands slip under the hem of her t-shirt and run along her ribs, making Nicole shiver as she leans back into Waverly’s touch.  “Do you want to go to bed?”

“I am tired,” Nicole murmurs.  They start rocking from side to side, Waverly’s hands snaking from Nicole’s ribs to her stomach.  She shivers beneath the touch, surprised at how energized Waverly’s touch always makes her feel.  “But this is helping a bit.”

“You’re so cute,” Waverly whispers against Nicole’s shoulder.  Nicole hears Waverly hum happily as her fingers slip further down Nicole’s stomach, tapping teasingly along the hem of her jeans.  “Is this ok?”

Nicole’s tired mind hesitates as she considers the question before she corrects herself, wondering why she’s even thinking about the answer to the question.  She nods slowly, moving her own hands up to Waverly’s lower arms.  Her thumbs press into Waverly’s wrists, holding her still and feeling the warm touch against her skin.

“Waves,” Nicole says softly.  She feels Waverly shift behind her, chin digging into Nicole’s shoulder as Waverly gives her undivided attention.  She swallows at the contact at warm breath licking her jaw and her hands absently push Waverly’s hands further down.  “You don’t have to-“

“I know,” Waverly interjects, voice a little rough around the edges, “But I want to.  I’ve been thinking about it all night.”

“What?  Really?” Nicole says, feeling a little taken aback.

“Baby,” Waverly starts, voice sweeter than candy, “I love you.  I want to give you what you give me.”

“I just...” Nicole trails off.  She isn’t sure where her thinking is going.  She doesn’t think she’s been with anyone who really cares about her and Waverly is swooping in and trying to make her feel like she lives on the moon.  She feels Waverly’s hand snake into her underwear, fingers sweeping along her skin.  “I’m just happy, you know?  Happy to give you what you need.”

“Baby,” Waverly whispers into her ear, nose tickling Nicole’s skin, “I feel the same way.  I did all of this research so I can give you the best orgasm of your life because I want you, ok?”

“You did that for me?”

“I would do anything for you,” Waverly replies.

At this, Nicole feels tears spring to her eyes.  The realization that maybe she isn’t in this alone, maybe Waverly could love her as much as she loves Waverly, makes her heart skip a beat.  She’s only smug and confident to mask her true insecurity that no one will love her, not even her parents can.

“Waverly Earp,” Nicole says.  She grabs Waverly’s wrists and moves her hands away from her body to turn and look at the woman in question.  She sucks in a deep breath to collect herself, trying to keep the flood of tears at bay.  “You are the best thing that could ever happen to me.  I’m just trying to be good enough for you.  I’m trying to be someone you could love.”

“Oh, baby, I do love you,” Waverly replies, “I would do anything to show you that.”

“Anything?”

“Just tell me what you need,” Waverly says.  Her voice is soft, her hands trickling over Nicole’s arms and shoulders.  Nicole feels every bit of Waverly’s touch etching along her bare skin.  “What do you need?”

“I just need you, baby,” Nicole says, voice softer than she could have even imagined.  She doesn’t know what comes over her as she bends at her knees and makes them eye level.  “Forever.  God, if I could spend the rest of my life with you, I would be perfectly happy.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says.

She can’t pinpoint the tone and she wonders if she went too far.  It’s all been building inside of her and it’s finally spilled over.  She doesn’t even know if Waverly could stick around after this.  If she wanted to run away, Nicole wouldn’t blame her.

“I’m sorry,” Nicole says quickly, sighing loudly and feeling everything inside of her melt in defeat, “I was just caught up in the moment and I don’t know why I said that.”

“Hey,” Waverly says, pressing a palm to Nicole’s jaw, “You can say however you’re feeling to me.  It’s important to you.”

“Waverly,” Nicole groans.  She steps away and throws herself back onto her bed, flourishing the landing.  She covers her face with both hands, huffing into them.  The weight on the bed shifts as Waverly follows and she feels her take Nicole’s hand to peel off of her face, forcing Nicole to look at her.  “I hate it when you’re not around.  I can’t sleep.  I can’t eat.  I feel so foolishly in love with you.  I want to marry you.  I want us to be together forever.”

“You say that now,” Waverly mumbles, slightly dismissive.

“Yeah, I do,” Nicole says, “I say that because we work.  I say that because I feel more loved by you than I have ever felt by anyone.  I say that because you make me feel like maybe I do know how to love someone.  I know, it sounds stupid.  I’m only eighteen, how can I know what I want for the rest of my life?  But I know that it could never get better than this, than you and me.  So, yeah, I say that now.  And I’ll keep saying it forever because, Waverly Earp, you are extraordinary.”

Waverly stares at her for a moment, mouth fused tightly shut, and Nicole feels Waverly searching her gaze for answers.  Waverly slowly looks away.  It’s her turn to watch.  To watch Waverly look at their hands while she sees how their fingers fit together.  To watch Waverly move her hand across Nicole’s front and come to a stop on her stomach.  Waverly ponders there, her fingers playing with the hem of Nicole’s t-shirt.

After a few minutes of silence where only their breathing echoes around the room, Waverly nods gently.  She says, “ok.”

“Ok?” Nicole repeats, already analyzing the one word.

“Baby,” young and bright Waverly says like a ray of sunshine in a dark world.  Waverly’s hand slips under Nicole’s t-shirt and slides across her stomach.  Nicole can’t look away from Waverly’s brilliant gaze that fills her with so much hope that she might actually die if Waverly doesn’t actually say something hopeful.  “I’ve had so many people leave me in my life - my dad, my mom, Wynonna, Perry - And I don’t want you to be a person who leaves me.”

“I wouldn’t,” Nicole replies.  Her eyes fill with tears at the thought.  She couldn’t.  “I couldn’t ever leave you.  I might be an idiot, but I’m not stupid.”

Waverly laughs then, soft and quiet as she leans a kiss into the corner of Nicole’s mouth.  Her stomach muscles tense as she feels Waverly’s fingers trickle lower and press against the opening of her unbuttoned pants.  Waverly whispers, “I think I could be married to you, Nicole Rayleigh Haught.”

“Really?” Nicole croaks out, voice loud and unhinged.

“I really, really could,” Waverly admits.  She leans forward again, laughter on her throat and a kiss pressed to Nicole’s lips.  It’s soft and languid, echoing with Nicole’s heart.  “I know in my heart of hearts that you’re meant for me.”

“Awe, baby,” Nicole hums.

“But I’m seventeen,” Waverly says, “We’re still in high school.  It doesn’t matter if I want to, baby, we can’t.  But, god, I imagine it every night we get to sleep next to each other.”

“So, if I asked...” Nicole baits.

“If you asked,” Waverly replies, voice deep and throaty as she pushes her hand beneath the hem of Nicole’s underwear, “You would be very difficult to say no to.”

Nicole finds some comfort in this, still not sure where all of her whirlwind of feelings are coming from.  It could have something to do with the scouts with which she spoke.  It could be the overwhelming thought of Waverly being near her again, tucking away for another weekend of domestic life.  It could be that she’s really in love and that she truly wants to make Waverly her wife because that’s something she’s sure she wants.


	11. Air Ball

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The weekend comes and goes but all Nicole wants is to be alone with her girlfriend.

The weekend together is quiet and lazy.  They do homework, have dinner, watch movies and make out.  Sunday comes too soon and Nicole joins Waverly for customary dinner with Gus and Curtis.  She leaves with her heart aching and she realizes every time they part on Sunday night just feels worse and worse.

Monday morning rolls around and school is a heavier weight on her shoulders than she wants.  They aren’t even halfway through February and basketball season isn’t quite over, but she’s starting to get senioritis so she can move on with her life with Waverly, so they don’t have to go their separate ways after the weekend.  That’s starting to become her new dream.

She’s on edge and moody towards everyone whenever Waverly isn’t around.  She’s even having difficulty not getting annoyed by her teammates, let alone everyone else who isn’t Waverly.  Waverly has to head home pretty quickly after cheer practice, usually while she’s still at basketball practice, so they don’t get much time together.  For the first few days of the school week, Waverly is even spending her lunch hour working on a history project and apologetically requested no distractions.

She’s becoming increasingly more aware at how dependent she’s become on Waverly to maintain her moods. She has her shit together to a degree, finally.  She’s still trying to dig herself out of the hole she created to get her parents attention.  Even though that didn’t work, she managed to get the attention of someone else who she fell in love with a hell of a lot easier than she expected she would.

Lunch in the cafeteria sitting with her teammates and not spending the free time with Waverly has been weird.  She’s missed her girlfriend and the ache within her is frustrating beyond belief.  She’s almost embarrassed at her inability to cope without Waverly for a few days.

She grumpily munches on her cold fries at lunch, her teammates chatting away about god knows what.  One of them is distracted making out with her boyfriend of the week a little further down the table. It only manages to annoy Nicole more.  Not that all she wants to do is make out with Waverly, but she does feel like they haven’t even kissed in so long.  Waverly was just at her house a few days ago, wrapped up in her bed and her arms.

Sighing loudly, she gets up from the table.  She exits mid-conversation and forgets everything that’s been said.  She quickly discards her food into the trash while heading out of the cafeteria.

“Nicole!”

She stops just outside of the noisy cafeteria and turns in her heel to come face to face with Shae.  It isn’t that she hates Shae.  In fact, she hardly thinks about Shae anymore beyond how wrong they were for each other.  It’s just that she isn’t in the mood to talk to anyone who isn’t Waverly right now.

“Shae,” she replies calmly, “Hey.  What’s up?”

“Hey, so,” Shae starts, “There’s this thing towards the end of the month at the country club and I was thinking we should go together.”

“Uhhh,” Nicole replies, completely blindsided by the statement.  They haven’t spoken much over the past few months, especially since she started dating Waverly.  She feels her face contort in confusion.  “Why would you think that?”

“Well,” Shae leads, stepping closer to her and voice dipping low, “It’s tradition.  We’ve gone together the last two years.  Plus, it’ll make your parents happy.”

This really gets under Nicole’s skin.  She doesn’t care what her parents think anymore.  She says, “Fuck my parents.”

“What happened to you, Nicole?  You used to have the fun parties and be fun to be around.  I get it, you’re in love and Waverly is a nice girl, but you’re different.  You used to care about what your parents think.”

“And then I grew up,” Nicole says, annoyance seeping into her voice.  She sighs heavily, ready to exit this conversation and go find Waverly in the library.  “And, for the record, if I do go to this thing, Waverly is coming as my date.  I’m not going to pretend to be with you when I have someone so great.”

“That’s a bad idea,” Shae says with a laugh, “But you do you, I guess.  Call me if you change your mind, Nicole.”

“Not likely,” Nicole grumbles.  She ditches Shae in her spot and meanders to the library, set on seeing Waverly more than ever.  It takes a few minutes to find her, but she spots her looking at a few books and reaching as high as she possibly can.  “Which one did you need?”

“Oh my god,” Waverly says loudly, nearly jumping out of her skin, “Nicole, baby, you scared me.”

“Sorry,” she huffs.

“Hey,” Waverly says softly, turning to face Nicole.  She feels Waverly’s fingers pressing against her upper arms and it grounds her a little. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Nicole says with an unconvincing smile.  She leans down and wraps her arms around Waverly, pulling her into a tight hug.  They stand like that for a few minutes until she feels a little bit better around the edges.  She releases Waverly and says, “Which book did you need?”

Waverly points out the book she wants and Nicole retrieves it for her.  They make their way over to the table that Waverly has set up camp, her books and notes spread everywhere.  She’d left her backpack at the table, and Nicole watches on as she does a quick check for all of her items.  Nicole takes a seat in the empty seat beside Waverly.

“Things are just feeling really weird,” Nicole finally admits.  She looks down at her fingers and busies herself with looking at them.  She studies her cuticles like she’s afraid to look up at Waverly.

“Oh,” Waverly says quietly.

“There’s just so much going on right now and it’s happening so fast.  The annual thing at my parents’ country club is coming up.  Not that I’ve even spoken to them lately.  And there’s scouts and basketball and school and you but I feel like you’re just so...busy.  Every time we’ve tried to talk this week Gus has you off doing something else around the house.  Or is it something else?  Did I say something wrong this weekend?”

“What?” Waverly says, looking a little caught off guard, “No, baby.  Of course not.  This weekend was perfect.  Like always.”

“It just seems like we haven’t spoken much since you went home on Sunday,” Nicole says with a sigh, “I guess it just has me in a bad mood.”

“Hey,” Waverly says.  She reaches quickly for Nicole, grabbing both hands and bringing them into her lap.  It jolts Nicole in a slightly physically uncomfortable way, but forces her attention to shift to Waverly.  “You said and did everything perfectly, ok?  Gus has had me doing so much more around the house and now she’s talking about me picking up shifts at Shorty’s.  Not to mention, this history project is getting insane.  I’m not avoiding you, baby.  What do you say I come by for an hour after school and we can have some quality time together?”

“Yes, please,” Nicole immediately says.

The words are barely out of her mouth when the bell rings indicating that classes are back after lunch.  Waverly smiles sadly and quickly pushes everything into her backpack.  They make their way into their classroom and carry on with the never ending school day.

|

Nicole feels the weight of tonight’s game resting on her shoulders.  It’s a team nearby, maybe a 15-minute bus ride, so they’ve been rivals for as long as Nicole can remember.  The school is in the nearest town outside of the Ghost River Triangle and it’s even smaller than Purgatory.  It’s probably a knock off, bad version of Purgatory.  Every time Nicole plays against them, she really feels for the economic atmosphere of the town.

Waverly sits beside her on the bus but they don’t walk into the gym together.  The cheerleaders are having an impromptu meeting lead by their mostly absent coach to address some recent behaviors.  Nicole’s sure she will hear all about it later, but she personally thinks their overall behavior has been much better than it once was.

She changes into her uniform and gets out onto the court, throwing some warm up shots.  Her teammates join her and do the same thing which prompts them to quickly get into stretches and pre-game drills.  Nicole’s favorite is the one where she gets to see if she’s any closer to landing a dunk.  She’s incredibly close with her 18 inch vertical, but she can’t quite get the ball over the rim.

The cheerleaders quickly join at the sidelines, doing their own cheers.  Nicole smirks at Waverly during her turn of the free throw drill, staring at her as she shoots.  The ball goes in with ease, a repetition that’s engraved in her movements.

The game is gruesome and tiring.  They end the first quarter nearly 10 points behind.  They end the second quarter up by 2.  They end the third quarter behind by 8.  The fourth quarter is the most intense of them all.  Nicole’s legs are tired which only drives her harder.  They win the game when she sinks a three pointer at the buzzer, a game they would have lost had they not.

She stinks horribly.  She downed 5 bottles of water during the game and their rival team doesn’t have any showers in the visiting locker room.  She puts on her civilian clothes, a loose Toronto Raptors t-shirt and a pair of jeans that she wore to the game, and makes her way out to the gym.  Waverly is waiting for her at the bleachers with a bottle of the purple Gatorade.

She drops her bag to the floor, loudly, and takes the bottle from Waverly.  She says, “Thanks, baby.”

Her voice is a little sweet, a little tired.

“You’re welcome.  That game was so intense,” Waverly replies, reaching a hand out for Nicole to take.  She pauses mid-drink to take Waverly’s hand.  She sits down beside Waverly, body feeling a little disgusting as Waverly leans against her.  “You did amazing.  I’m so proud of you.”

She swallows her drink and caps the bottle back.  Waverly wraps both arms around her right arm before sliding a hand into hers.  Ever since their conversation in the library and Waverly getting called home right after getting to her house, Waverly has been clinging to her a little more.  Although she would typically mind if it were someone else, she’s loving all of the attention she’s getting from her girlfriend.

“I stink,” Nicole says, “I can’t wait to go home and take a shower.”

“You’re fine,” Waverly says.  She lifts a hand and runs it through Nicole’s sweaty hair.  She cringes instinctively, expecting for Waverly to make some comment about how disgusting she is like Shae used to.  “You’re still very sexy.”

“Oh yeah?” Nicole mutters.  She leans back a little and presses her hand to the small of Waverly’s back.  She looks over at Waverly and feels a smile pull at the corner of her mouth.

“Duh,” Waverly says enthusiastically.  A few minutes of silence passes, and Waverly taps away at her phone.  She’ll lean into Nicole every once in awhile, but she stays pretty focused on her phone.  When she finally looks up, she’s smiling a bit sadly.  “Wynonna says hi.”

“Oh yeah?” Nicole hums, “Tell her I said hi back.”

“Ok,” Waverly says.  She taps away at her phone for a few more minutes before tucking it away.  She looks back over at Nicole, and leans in a bit.  “I have to go get ready for the next game.”

Nicole pouts and Waverly immediately leans in for a kiss.  She squeezes Waverly’s hand tighter and pulls her closer, not quite ready to let her get away.  She says, “See you soon, beautiful.”

“I’ll be right over there,” Waverly says, pointing to where they were the last game.  Nicole nods dumbly.  “One more?”

Nicole appeases her and gives her another parting kiss before she joins Chrissy and the other cheerleaders at the sidelines.  Nicole uses this time to relax and get a rest.  She feels even more tired, with all of the voice erupting in the gym so even her mind can’t relax.

At halftime, Waverly meanders over to sit beside her.  She gives a dramatic sigh as she places a kiss against Nicole’s cheek.  Nicole can’t help but smile at this.  Waverly says, “Is it ok if Chrissy and her boyfriend Robin come over after the game?”

“Sure, baby,” Nicole replies.  Although she’s feeling really tired and she needs a shower, she also suspects it isn’t necessarily about them hanging out with Chrissy and Robin.  “We can order pizza or something.”

“Then we can hit the showers,” Waverly replies.

“We?” Nicole asks, arching an eyebrow.

Waverly confirms with a cheeky nod.  Halftime is over before she knows it.  Waverly is back to cheering and she takes a power nap.  After the game, they make their way back to the bus.  She sits next to Waverly and lets herself get in the 15-minute nap.  As they pull into the parking lot of the school, she pulls out her phone to order some pizza so it will be delivered to her house pretty soon after they arrive.

Everyone coordinates.  Waverly rides with her because the Jeep is already at her house, but Chrissy and Robin get into their respective vehicles to follow.  She parks behind the Jeep and makes her way up the steps, unlocking the door as Waverly waits for Chrissy and Robin at the base of the steps.  She flicks on the lights in the living room so it isn’t too dark when people who are unfamiliar with the house enter.

They sit down in the living room and chat until the pizza gets there.  They turn the television on and let some movie play in the background.  She catches a glimpse of it every once in a while but she can’t pinpoint what it is.  The pizza arrives and she pays the delivery person, giving a little extra as a tip.  They eat and continue chatting before Nicole takes all of the dirty dishes into the kitchen.

She returns.  Nicole drops a hand on Waverly’s shoulder and leans down to kiss Waverly’s temple.  She says, “I’m gonna go shower.”

“Wait,” Waverly says, despite Chrissy looking at her expectantly, “I’m coming with you.”

Chrissy gives some weird wink and Nicole can’t tell if she’s being coy with Waverly about her and Waverly or about herself and Robin.  Nicole lightly shakes her head as she goes around the back of the couch.  Waverly is quick enough that she slips her hand into Nicole’s before they reach the bottom of the stairs.  Once they get to the top of the stairs, she shuts her bedroom door.

“So,” Nicole starts, turning to face Waverly, “She knows Robin is gay, right?”

“What makes you say that?” Waverly asks.  She’s digging through her bag looking for some clothes and maybe a few of her toiletries that she brings over.

“Uh...because I’m gay and I know what gay looks like,” Nicole says.

“Did you know I was gay?” Waverly counters, “I mean, before you kissed me and I didn’t totally get grossed out by it.”

“Well, you’re not exactly gay,” Nicole says, “You like men, too.  Unfortunately.”

“Oh, I’m totally gay,” Waverly says, standing from her bag with a handful of clothes that she immediately ditches on the foot of the bed, “For you.”

“Funny,” Nicole replies, “Even though you’re the cutest, it isn’t quite the same.”

“Fine,” Waverly grumbles, “But I don’t know what makes you say Robin is gay.”

“We’ll just call it a hunch,” Nicole says.  She smirks when Waverly rolls her eyes.  Sighing dramatically, she kicks off her shoes towards her closet.  She angles her body towards Waverly and catches her by the waist.  “I just don’t want your best friend to get hurt, ok, baby?”

“They just started dating like last week,” Waverly says with a shrug, “I highly doubt they’re like in love or anything.”

“In love or not, feelings are still involved and she could still get hurt,” Nicole says weakly.

“You’re the sweetest for being so concerned,” Waverly replies, “But If Chrissy needs me then I’ll be there.”

She pushes up on her toes and presses a chaste kiss to Nicole’s cheekbone.  She starts to move around Nicole to head towards the bathroom but Nicole catches her again.  Nicole says, “Also, it isn’t entirely crazy to be in love with someone so fast.  When you know you know.”

“I know, baby,” Waverly says, voice deep and serious.  She smiles sweetly and leans in to press a kiss against Nicole’s mouth.  She can’t help smiling, feeling like Waverly understands her.  “Can we shower now?”

“You were serious about that?”

“Why are you so surprised?  Do you not,” Waverly stops suddenly, slouching onto the mattress with the biggest pout Nicole could never refuse, “Do you not want to shower with me?”

“What?  Baby, it’s not that,” Nicole says softly.  She sits down quickly and reaches for Waverly’s hand.  She pulls it towards her chest, leaning down a bit to kiss Waverly’s knuckles.  She sighs, slightly embarrassed.  She says, “It’s just that I’ve never really showered with anyone before.”

“Not even with Shae?”

The question comes to Waverly’s mouth so easily that Nicole is a little taken aback by it.  Her mouth hangs open, her brain faltering as she traces through every memory she has.  She never showered with Shae.  She’s showered in the locker room with her teammates but never Shae.

“No,” Nicole says with a shake of her head, “I spent more time trying to get away from her than you even know.  There are still plenty of things that I’ve never done with anyone.”

“So,” Waverly says, voice perking up as she looks at Nicole.  Nicole spots a glint in her eye that makes Nicole swoon a little, that sexy smug look that Waverly only incorporates once in a blue moon.  Waverly hits her shoulder against Nicole’s and says, “I get to be your first?”

“You can be my first,” Nicole says, giving Waverly as much of a reassuring smile as she can muster.  They stare at each other for a minute, Waverly’s fingers beginning to tangle with Nicole’s.  Their faces are inches apart and Nicole feels like she can read Waverly’s mind. “I really do need to shower though.  I feel really gross.”

“Ok, you go start the water and I’ll be there in a minute,” Waverly replies.

Nicole nods and heads into the bathroom.  She gets to the shower and turns the water to her regular temperature.  Halfway through the task of taking off her shirt she realizes she has no idea how warm or cold Waverly likes her water.

She pokes her head back into the bedroom and asks, “How do you like your water?”

“However you like it,” Waverly replies.

She can’t see Waverly anymore but she goes back to stripping her clothes off, discarding them into a pile on the floor.  She doesn’t know why she feels so nervous about Waverly getting into the shower with her.  She’s seen Waverly naked before, and Waverly’s seen her without clothes as well.  Probably even more naked than she’s seen Waverly.

She jumps under the water, letting the hot liquid wet her skin before she pours shampoo into her hand.  She quickly runs it through her hair, massaging her scalp.  She’s washed the shampoo out when she starts wondering if Waverly chickened out.  She wouldn’t blame her.  She sighs as she steps out from beneath the water.

“Oh shoot,” she hears Waverly say outside the shower.

“Everything ok?”

“Yeah,” Waverly grumbles, “I just wanted you to use my stuff so you would smell like me.”

“Maybe you can use my stuff so you can smell like me,” Nicole counters as she peels the curtain back to see Waverly better.

What she isn’t expecting is for Waverly to already be completely naked as she sets her shampoo, conditioner, soap and face wash on the counter.  Her breath catches for a moment and she returns to beneath the water so quickly that she nearly falls, fairly certain that Waverly never even saw her.  She’s a complete dumbass.

“You smell like vanilla dipped donuts,” Waverly says.  Nicole turns in time to see Waverly peeling back the shower curtain so she can step in.  Waverly smiles, cheeks a cute mixture of smug and snarky.  She adds, “Which are my favorite.”

“Oh yeah?” Nicole says through a slight gulp.  She’s a little uncomfortable with all of her bared for Waverly to see despite the fact that Waverly is in the same state as her.  She releases a deep breath, forcing a smile onto her face.  “You’re my favorite.”

“Awe, baby,” Waverly coos.

She feels Waverly’s fingers trickle over her ribs.  She bends a little at the surprise of it.  Waverly’s palm flattens against her rib cage and she realizes just how small the shower really is.

“Hold on,” Nicole says, “I still have to do the soap part.”

“Oh, let me help,” Waverly says a bit enthusiastically.  Nicole feels herself give Waverly a pointed look in response like she can’t even control her reactions.  That’s just so cliché. “What?  They always do it in movies and it’s so sexy.”

“I don’t know,” Nicole replies, “It just feels...weird.”

The water is pelting her in her shoulders and Waverly is still mostly dry except for her hands where they are pressed against Nicole’s torso.

“Hey,” Waverly says softly, kindly, “I can get out if it’s too weird.”

“No, wait,” Nicole says.  She sighs deeply in an attempt to let her nerves out.  She doesn’t know why she’s freaking out or making this a big deal.  “I’m sorry.  Let’s do your thing.”

“Are you sure?” Waverly says.  Nicole feels Waverly’s hands leave her torso and looks down to see Waverly wrapping her arms around her middle.  She looks smaller now, less excited.  It makes Nicole feel guilty.

“Baby,” Nicole says softly to get Waverly’s full attention.

She lifts a finger and hooks it beneath Waverly’s chin, guiding their gazes back together.  She leans down and crushes their lips together, letting her mouth hover until Waverly responds.  They kiss lazily for a minute before she pulls back.  They both smile.

“Switch spots?” Nicole asks.

Waverly nods slowly and they move around each other in the tight space.  They knock elbows or knees against something and giggle quietly.  Nicole has to steady Waverly while she’s beneath the water.  She realizes that Waverly is feeling just as exposed as she is.

“Hey,” Nicole says softly, reaching up and pushing fingers through Waverly’s long hair, “You ok?”

“I guess, I just, you know,” Waverly says, gaze shifting, “You were right.  This is weird.”

“It’s just the first time, right?” Nicole says.  She sways a little as she moves closer to Waverly so she can rest both hands on Waverly’s shoulders.  “It was a really silly thing for me to say.  I’m excited that you want to do this with me.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Nicole says, “Now soap me because you’re really hot and it’s starting to distract me from the cleansing process.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Waverly says with a laugh.

“Yeah yeah,” Nicole says.

She watches as Waverly reaches for the soap and pours some into her hand.  She proceeds to lather up her hands and transfer it to Nicole.  The feeling of Waverly’s hands moving all over her skin makes her forget about her insecurities and how exposed she feels.  Waverly’s fingers slide over her arms as she paints soap across her skin.

“Is this ok?” Waverly asks.

“Yes, baby,” Nicole replies, “That feels really nice.”

“Good,” Waverly says.  She continues painting Nicole with soap.  She tries not to get too caught up in it and feels a cold breeze while Waverly soaks up the warm water.  “Turn around?”

Nicole turns around and immediately feels Waverly’s hands running over her back.  Nicole does a thorough once over of her front with her own hands being sure to spread the soap evenly.  Waverly ends her soap masterpiece with a tap on Nicole’s ass that she isn’t expecting.  She laughs in shock, immediately stilling when she feels Waverly’s hands grasp her hips.  Waverly guides her backwards until she feels the water against her back and they’re moving around each other again.

“Careful,” Nicole whispers as she reaches to help steady Waverly.

Once she’s sure that Waverly’s standing securely, she turns to face the water so it’ll wash the soap off of her front.  All of the suds are sliding down her body and towards the drain when she feels Waverly’s hands smooth across her back.  Waverly works her hands down to her hips and slides them around Nicole’s waist.  She looks up at the feel of Waverly’s hands flattening against her stomach.  The water hits her chin and slides down her chest.

“Hey,” Waverly says into her shoulder as she presses a kiss against Nicole’s skin, “Is this ok?”

She sighs softly in response and lightly nods her head.  The warmth of the water only makes her skin flush even more.  This new, explorative Waverly has really done her homework and knows exactly just how to set Nicole’s body on fire. Nicole feels Waverly’s teeth pinch her shoulder.  For a moment, Nicole doesn’t know what to do with her hands or where to put them.  Especially when she feels Waverly’s palm sweep across her waist.

A shiver courses through her and she turns her head at the neck to glance over her shoulder at Waverly.  She can only see the crown of Waverly’s head because she’s currently pressed against Nicole’s back, forehead digging in to Nicole’s shoulder.  She releases a steadying breath as she covers Waverly’s hand with her own.  Waverly responds quickly, spreading apart her fingers so Nicole can sleep hers between them.

Another few minutes pass by when Waverly lifts her chin to Nicole’s shoulder and says, “This isn’t so bad.”

“No,” Nicole mutters, “No, it isn’t.”

“Can you turn around?” Waverly asks, “I want to look at you.”

“Sure thing, baby,” Nicole whispers.  She’ll be glad to get the water out of her face even though she begrudgingly releases Waverly’s hand.  She’s turns slowly to face Waverly and immediately feels hands settle at her hips.  “Is this better?”

“Much,” Waverly says with a slight blush.

Nicole soon understands why.  Her lips are parted in anticipation as Waverly pushes up on her toes to press a kiss to Nicole’s mouth.  The kiss is heated and just aggressive enough that Nicole feels the spirit and energy Waverly is conveying as it transfers over to her.

Leaning her body more into Waverly, Nicole stretches her arms out and places her hands on the wall to keep her from completely knocking against Waverly.  The kiss only deepens with this movement.  Waverly’s tongue sweeps against hers as her hands moves up Nicole’s rib cage until they cup her jaw.  Waverly guides her closer.

Their bodies press together.  Waverly is warmer than usual due to the cascade of water, and it’s a much different sensation with all of their clothing already removed, no longer acting as a cover for Waverly’s soft skin.  She takes a hand off of the way and pushes it against Waverly’s back, sweeping her hand along Waverly’s spine until she feels a shiver press against her.

Waverly only kisses her harder, tongue delving deeper into Nicole’s mouth.  Their tongues slide together as Waverly’s hands begin to wander, touching along her chest between her breasts and moving down her stomach.  Waverly’s feather light touches encourage her body to react, her movements only making herself more accessible to Waverly.  She pulls back a little to breathe, resting her forehead against Waverly’s.  Nicole can still feel the ghost of Waverly’s lips against hers.

“Water’s getting cold,” Nicole mutters.

“Yeah,” Waverly whispers in agreement, “You can warm me up in bed.”

Nicole nods happily, reluctantly putting space between them.  Waverly slips out first.  Nicole turns to shut the water off and quickly follows.  When she peels the shower curtain back, she sees Waverly drying off in all of her naked glory as if she isn’t already turned on enough.

“Baby,” Nicole huffs, stepping up behind Waverly and reaching for a towel to dry off, “Wow.”

“What?” Waverly says cheekily as she looks at Nicole over her shoulder.

“Just wow,” Nicole says in a breath.  She dries off quickly and hangs her towel back up.  Nicole hardly gives Waverly a moment to finish drying off herself before she’s wrapping her arms around Waverly’s middle.  “You’re so damn sexy.  You should walk around naked more.” 

“Nicole,” Waverly chastises playfully.  Nicole feels Waverly hug the towel to her chest in an attempt to give Nicole’s arms a squeeze.  Waverly sighs as Nicole locks her arms into place, moving them slowly towards the door of the bathroom.  “You’re already getting lucky.  You don’t have to say that.”

“I say it because it’s true,” Nicole replies.  She places a kiss against Waverly’s shoulder, letting her lips linger there until Waverly shivers.  Nicole laughs softly against her girlfriend’s skin before releasing her grasp.  She pats Waverly on the ass and says, “Go get under the blankets and I’ll come warm you up.”

As Waverly leaves the room, Nicole pushes her hands through her hair in an attempt tame it, but eventually gives up when she hears the bed shift beneath Waverly’s weight.  She heads into her bedroom to see Waverly getting warm beneath a pile of blankets, hair tied up on top of her head in waves.  Nicole thinks she’s even more beautiful, that she’s incredibly lucky that Waverly would even give her the time of day.

“Hurry,” Waverly says in a pouty voice, “The best way to warm up is skin to skin contact.”

“I’m coming,” Nicole reassures.

She’s barely in the bed before she’s pulled into Waverly’s body, transferring heat while exchanging kisses.

|

After successfully warming Waverly up, Waverly had run downstairs to check on things with Chrissy.  She returned to the bedroom with an announcement that Chrissy would be crashing and a midnight snack.  That was 14 hours ago and Chrissy is still hanging around.

Waverly’s made a list, including a few items that were requested by Chrissy.  Nicole doesn’t hate Chrissy by any means, but she is a little annoyed that they have a third wheel that she wasn’t prepared for.  Not that Chrissy’s presence has particularly made Waverly ignore Nicole, but it did mean after her morning run she couldn’t crawl back into bed with Waverly because she was already up and at ‘em in the kitchen making breakfast with Chrissy.

That’s initially what had prompted the grocery list, the lack of food in the refrigerator and pantry for the rest of the weekend.  Nicole would be perfectly happy eating take out for the rest of the weekend, but she knew Waverly wouldn’t let that fly.  In fact, glancing at the list, Nicole wouldn’t be surprised if Waverly is planning on meal prepping for the week before the weekend is over.  She has heard a few fly away comments about Nicole’s lunches (or lack thereof) and potential dinners that she’s having when Waverly isn’t over.

This all pretty much explains why she’s pushing around a basket at their local market, owned by twin sisters who are absolutely impossible to tell apart, while Waverly checks things off of the list and Chrissy tosses in random snacks.  While she’s pretty content following Waverly around the store, Chrissy gears off and does her shopping, only returning to them when her hands are full.  Nicole quietly wonders how their basket is nearly overflowing with foods, half of which she doesn’t even like.

Chrissy promptly returns with another armful and declares that she’s done. Nicole sighs in relief.  She doesn’t even want to start thinking about how long this means Chrissy will be hanging around throughout the weekend.  Her dad has to be worried about where she is, right?  Probably not.  He probably already knows.  Her dad is the sheriff.

“Anything in particular you want, baby?” Waverly asks.

Nicole sighs again, a bit more audibly this time as she feels Waverly lean against her.  She lifts her arm and wraps it around Waverly’s shoulders.  Waverly responds by sliding a hand around Nicole’s waist.  She says, “I think Chrissy has everything covered.”

“Come on, Haught,” Chrissy says playfully, “You’re not gonna lose that basketball bod because of a little snackage.”

“This is just a lot of snacks,” Nicole mutters.

“Awe, baby,” Waverly says, reassuringly running a hand up Nicole’s spine, “She’ll put some of them back.  Won’t you, Chrissy?”

“Ugh,” Chrissy grumbles, “I don’t know how we’re supposed to do a movie marathon without the proper snacks.”

“Oh,” Nicole says slowly.  She feels defeated as she leans heavily against the handle of the cart.  She doesn’t know why she’s so annoyed by Chrissy hanging around.  She likes Chrissy.  She just feels like she hasn’t had a moment alone with Waverly.  “A movie marathon?”

“Lord of the Rings,” Waverly says with the cutest wiggle of her eyebrows.  Nicole almost instantly relents.  She doesn’t know what she had in mind for this weekend, but it clearly wasn’t this.  “It’ll be like a party.”

“This looks like a sugar party,” Nicole replies.

“Not as good of one since Mom is making me put some back,” Chrissy teases.  She reaches into the cart and grabs a few items before turning away to strut down the aisle.

“How big of a party are we talking?” Nicole asks.  She sighs again.  She hasn’t been to or has a party since her birthday.  Frankly, she’s just too tired for one.

“Just you, me, Chrissy and Robin,” Waverly says with a shrug.

She reaches for something on the shelf and sets it in the cart before crossing it off of her list.  Nicole follows along the aisle and only stops when Waverly does.  During this time, she does more thinking about the Chrissy and Robin situation.  Maybe she jumped to conclusions about Robin, or she’s just projecting.  Either way, it isn’t fair of her to make that call on his behalf.

She decides to give Robin another chance.  Not that he isn’t a nice guy and wouldn’t be treating Chrissy right, but she’s still suspicious.  She’s been there, done that. A little earlier than most people in their grade, but that doesn’t really change that she’s been there.  As annoyed as she is by Chrissy’s peppy and chipper demeanor, and perhaps even the way it rises Waverly to this same level, she still cares about how this will turn out.  It could be a bit because it might take Waverly’s sights off of her a little.

Nicole really wishes that she herself were a bit more understanding of others instead of being so selfish when it comes to Waverly.

“Do we have everything?” Nicole murmurs once Waverly seems to give the list a firm once over, again.

“I think that’s it,” Waverly says.  She audibly sighs and her shoulders relax, giving Nicole a triumphant smile.  She tucks her grocery list away and turns towards Nicole, immediately pushing her hands to Nicole’s waist.  “My baby is gonna eat good.”

“Okay,” Nicole says with a laugh, “Have you seen our cart?  Chrissy overloaded it with fattening stuff.  Stuff you can’t even eat.”

“I can eat some of it,” Waverly says, although her tone suggests even she doesn’t believe it.

“Regretting the decision to go vegan yet?” Nicole teases.

“Not just yet,” Waverly says with a convincing smile, “How can I convince you to go a little bit healthier with me?”

“Not letting Chrissy get all of these snacks, for starters,” Nicole replies.  Waverly gives her a pointed look that makes her shift in demeanor.  She gives into Waverly and lifts both hands to her face, cupping her jawline.  “I’ll try, if that’s what you really want.  How’s that?”

“Perfect,” Waverly says cheerfully.

Nicole feels the distance between them thinning as Waverly pushes up on her toes and plants a soft kiss against her mouth.  She responds in kind, pushing one hand into Waverly’s hair.  The basket moves slightly beside them and the slowly break apart.

“You look like a gross married couple,” Chrissy says.  They both turn their heads slowly to look at Chrissy, a furrowed and pensive look on Nicole’s face.  She doesn’t know if she should take offense to that, but Chrissy’s really hitting her close to home.  “I call maid of honor.”

“Oh geez,” Waverly murmurs.  She fully releases Nicole and moves away, back towards the cart.  Nicole feels the separation harder than she should and she instantly wonders if Waverly told Chrissy about their conversation.  “If you think Wynonna would ever let you be my maid of honor without a tough fight then you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Fight on,” Chrissy announces.

Nicole watches as Waverly takes control of the cart and heads towards the checkout lane.  She follows behind the two friends like she’s a third wheel or the caboose of the train, maybe even admitting to herself that she’s a little jealous.  She stays silent, knowing that she has nothing to be jealous about.  They start loading the contents of their cart onto the counter for check out.

Nicole reaches in and helps a bit before making her way to the front of the counter.  The person ringing them up is someone from school, smiling politely but clearly uncomfortable.  She doesn’t know for sure if it’s because they aren’t familiar with each other or if it’s for any other reason.

Waverly and Chrissy start chatting about something as Nicole digs her wallet out to pay.  They load the bags into the cart while Nicole pays and she realizes it looks like they’re about to have a party.  Nicole didn’t even look at the total, but the cart is absolutely fuller than is necessary for even 4 people.

“Are you sure you’re not throwing a party?” Nicole says to Waverly, taking her card and shoving it back into her wallet.

“Most of this is for you,” Waverly replies, sweetly.  She ditches the cart and moves towards Nicole, giving her thanks to the person who helped them.  Chrissy takes the cart and heads towards the door while Waverly wraps both hands up and pulls Nicole closer.  “Baby, you promised you were going to at least try to eat healthier.  I want to be sure you’re taking care of yourself when I’m not around.”

“Baby,” Nicole says, squeezing both of Waverly’s hands in her own, “I’ve got this, ok?  Don’t worry about me.”

“Of course I worry,” Waverly says, eyes dropping and locking on their hands, “I love you.”

“Hey,” Nicole replies softly as she releases Waverly’s hand to hook a finger beneath her chin; she guides their gazes back together and offers a smile, “I love you, too, baby.  I’m trying.”

Leaning forward, Nicole places a hard kiss on Waverly’s mouth to which Waverly quickly responds, clutching Nicole’s shirt in her free hand.

Someone bumps into her back and she pulls away, dropping her hand from Waverly’s chin.  She turns slightly on her heel to look over her shoulder while squeezing Waverly’s hand tighter, refusing to let go.  Waverly threads their fingers together and leans more into Nicole just as she spots Champ strutting by her.

“Not cool, man,” Nicole grumbles.

“Oh come on,” Champ says gruffly, “It’s super not cool to stand in the way while sucking face with your girlfriend.”

He says this with a certain disdain that Nicole can tell he’s jealous.  She opts not to respond and only pulls Waverly closer as they walk towards Chrissy by the doors.  Nicole gives Waverly a reassuring smile, hoping that Waverly won’t take it too personal.

“Leave them alone, Champ.  You’re just jealous Waverly never gave you the time of day,” Chrissy barks.  Nicole’s head whips back to Chrissy, standing in a pose that terrifies even her.  Waverly steps forward quickly and reluctantly releases Nicole’s hand to wrap Chrissy into a tight hug.  “Your girlfriend’s really clingy.”

“Yeah,” Nicole agrees absently, “But she’s cute so if you don’t want her, I’ll happily take her back.”

Chrissy fake gags and for a moment Nicole thinks about what it would be like if Wynonna were still here.  Would she be trying to tag along with Waverly on the weekends?  Would Wynonna be trying to use her house as a party spot like she often did before she and Waverly got close?  Would they even still be together?

Nicole lifts a hand as Waverly releases Chrissy from the hug, placing her fingertips on Waverly’s shoulder.  She grins when Waverly leans into her, replacing her arms around Nicole’s waist.  Nicole feels like they belong together like this and she decides to give Chrissy less shit when Chrissy pushes the cart so they can walk back to the car wrapped up in each other.

Once they get back to Nicole’s house, they unload the car and put the groceries away.  Chrissy says she’s going to run home for a shower and a change of clothes but she’ll be back in an hour or two with plenty of time to help out the snacks together before Robin arrives.  They aren’t even finished storing groceries away before Chrissy is out the front door, leaving them alone for the first time today.

Nicole stores the last snack on the top shelf, arms stretched high above her head, when she feels Waverly’s arms slide around her waist.  Slowly lowering her heels back to the ground, she settles into Waverly’s warm embrace.  The feeling she has when Waverly’s arms are wrapped around her compares to no other feeling that she has, a feeling she’s been mostly unfamiliar with.  No one else has ever really taken her into their arms and made her feel safe.

She stands there for a moment as she revels in the feeling, etching it into her memory like it’s something she could lose at any given moment.  She often feels that their lives during the week are moving a million miles a minute and she doesn’t get a second to just breathe Waverly in, like a piece of her is missing.  The weekends she feels whole, like she can take in the moments and just enjoy Waverly’s company rather than it always being crunch time.

“Hey,” Waverly murmurs against Nicole’s back, fingers slipping beneath the hem of Nicole’s shirt, “Come lay with me.”

Nicole nods slowly, already missing Waverly’s contact before she’s even let go.  Following Waverly up the stairs, she reaches for Waverly’s hand and clutches tightly.  She knows already that she isn’t the only one with a clingy girlfriend, but Waverly doesn’t really complain either.  They make it into Nicole’s bedroom and they both kick off their shoes before climbing into the bed.  Waverly’s shirt hangs low as she bends and contorts to Nicole’s side.  Waverly curls into her, resting her head against Nicole’s shoulder.

“Can I tell you something?” Nicole asks.

“Always,” Waverly says.

“It’s just,” Nicole starts and stops quickly.  She sighs loudly, her brain chastising herself for even starting.  She feels Waverly’s hand move across her stomach in search of her hand.  She finds courage in this.  She says, “I feel safe with you, like, I don’t know...I can do anything, maybe?  It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid,” Waverly says quickly.  She sits up beside Nicole, leaning her top half more against Nicole and Waverly looks down at her.  She looks sweet and encouraging.  “Nicole Haught, it isn’t stupid.  In fact, I think it’s sweet.”

“There’s this thing at my parents’ country club coming up and I want you to come with me,” Nicole says.

“You want me to go?” Waverly says, appearing to be slightly awestruck.

“Well, yeah,” Nicole replies, “You’re the most important person to me and if I can’t share that with you then I don’t want to go.”

“Baby,” Waverly coos cheekily, “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“Waves,” Nicole says pointedly, “I choose you.  You give me everything I’ve never had before.  I love you.”

“You’re a big softie,” Waverly whispers as she leans down and lazily kisses Nicole.

Nicole catches Waverly’s hand and places it low on her stomach, pressing her palm against the back of Waverly’s hand.  Nicole smiles against Waverly’s mouth, deciding that she would be whatever Waverly wanted her to be.  Waverly settles back into her side, wrapping a leg high over her thigh.  Nicole definitely doesn’t want this feeling to ever go away.


	12. Defense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole hits a wall.

Nicole is sweaty.

And flabbergasted.

She’s watching some guy in a suit walk away after dangling all of her dreams right in front of her face and the only thing she can think is: Waverly.

Will Waverly be happy?  Will she be supportive?  Will she want this too?

She’s in a slightly unfamiliar gym with droves of people surrounding her and she hasn’t even caught a glimpse of her girlfriend since the buzzer blared out their surprising loss by just a handful of points.  Despite their loss, she played a hell of a game.  She played well enough that a scout approached her after the game offering her everything she could ever want.

She has to talk to Waverly.

She sets out on a mission to find her, to tell her the hopefully good news.  All of the dreams she had thought she could abandon for Waverly are just dangling in front of her.  She truly could have it all - University of Connecticut.  It takes her a few minutes longer than she expects to find Waverly, lounging in the hallway with her fellow cheerleaders like they’re having a pre-game meeting.

Waverly doesn’t see her at first.  She’s busy laughing a throaty laugh, one that echoes off of the walls as her hands push against her upper thighs for support.  Chrissy is right beside her, laughing away as well.  Nicole barely has a second to remember her manners, excitement bubbling over, as she bends down just behind Waverly to reach for her hand.

“Hey, baby, can I talk to you?” She spits out like a volcano, tugging on Waverly’s hand hard enough that Waverly’s back hits Nicole’s knee.  She has to balance herself to keep from falling over.  Waverly stills in all of her movements, the laughter quickly replaced by panic from what Nicole can see.

Waverly nods quickly as she begins to stand.  Nicole is only a second behind her but soon finds herself towering over Waverly.  They step off to the side just out of earshot of the rest of the cheerleaders, and it’s then that Nicole can really see just how terrified Waverly’s face looks.

“Are you ok?  Is everything ok?” Waverly says quickly, immediately reaching out to touch Nicole’s wrists.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nicole says, breathless.  A smile touches her mouth and she almost sees Waverly’s worry falls away.  Releasing a heavy breath, Nicole feels her entire body relax.  “Everything’s great.  I just, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” Waverly murmurs.

She feels Waverly’s fingers sliding along her arms and her brain skips for a moment.  Her hands turn and slip against Waverly’s.  Their palms press together and Nicole says, “So, a scout just approached me.  A real scout.  With a real offer.  From my dream school.”

“Wow,” Waverly says, smile taking over her face, “Baby, that’s amazing.”

“I just had to tell you,” Nicole says, suddenly feeling shy and like if she gives all of the details then Waverly will stop looking proud.  There really is no greater feeling than the pride on Waverly’s face.  It makes her feel like she can do anything.  “Should I be excited?”

“Your grades are up,” Waverly replies, “I think you can get excited.”

“Well, what about you?”

“Me?” Waverly says, a little taken aback, “I’m excited for you.  Of course I am.”

Waverly’s palms slide up Nicole’s arm to punctuate her words, making Nicole feel a sense of loss for something that hasn’t even happened yet.  Nicole mulls it over too quickly, tears poking her eyes like she’s so much weaker than she used to be.  She’s really become a person who cries at the thought of being away from her girlfriend for more than 16 hours at a time.

“I’m going to tell them no,” Nicole says quickly.

“What?  Baby, don’t do that,” Waverly says, squeezing Nicole’s forearm, “Just hear them out.  See what else they have to offer.  See what other offers you get.”

“Ok,” Nicole says with a tired sigh, “I’ll do that.”

“Kisses before you leave,” Waverly says with certainty.  Nicole can only comply whenever Waverly is so certain about what she wants.  Closing the space between them, Nicole leans down to plant a chaste kiss against Waverly’s lips.  When she pulls away, Waverly says, “You’re the best, baby.”

Nicole walks away with a smile and an ego inflated to just the right amount.

On the bus ride home, Waverly falls asleep in her arms and she’s reminded that all she wants to do is this every night, the other dreams don’t matter anymore.

|

Waverly Earp dancing and singing around her kitchen is a sight she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to.  At least she doubts she’ll ever forget it.  Even though it’s a silly (cute in Waverly’s voice) One Direction song.  It’s a certain level of domestic bliss that Nicole hasn’t ever felt with anyone, not even her parents.  Fitting that her heart would swell 2 sizes bigger with love on Valentine’s Day.  The first one she’s ever really wanted to celebrate with someone, too.

She’d had this entire day planned out, a series of spots she was going to take Waverly, but she really could convince her perfect attendance girlfriend to skip school for even one day.  Waverly’s plan ended up overriding hers and the reminder that Waverly has to go home by a specific time looms over them.  She hates every second she spends thinking of that painful reminder, even though Waverly will be spending the weekend with her in just one more day.

“What are you making?” Nicole finally ventures after minutes of trying to figure it out.

“It’s a surprise,” Waverly says cheekily.  Nicole watches as she turns on her heel to close the space between them.  She opens her arms as Waverly leans into her, catching her.  Waverly settles an arm around Nicole’s shoulders and rests her hip against Nicole’s thigh.  “You like surprises, right?”

“I can handle surprises,” Nicole replies.  She smiles and presses a kiss to Waverly’s mouth.  Waverly responds kindly, lips parting beneath Nicole’s and welcoming her kiss.  The kiss starts to deepen at Nicole’s will which Waverly hesitantly slips away from.  Nicole pouts, saying, “Wait, come back.”

“The food,” Waverly replies.  She pouts in return, stepping just out of Nicole’s grasp.  Nicole pushes herself off of the stool to follow Waverly the few feet across the kitchen.  Nicole presses her hands against Waverly’s hips from behind, sliding into place behind her.  “I don’t want to ruin dinner.”

“There will be plenty of other dinners,” Nicole argues.

“Yeah, but it’s Valentine’s Day,” Waverly says, “I want it to be perfect.”

“I already have all the perfect I could want right here,” Nicole says, giving Waverly a bit of a squeeze.  Waverly hums an awe in response, melting into Nicole’s embrace.  Nicole nuzzles into Waverly’s neck, planting a series of kisses against her skin.  “Seriously, baby.  I already get the best present just because you’re with me.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says in that silky, sweet cooing voice.

“I mean it.  I’ve never cared about this day before.  I mean, I don’t really care about it much now except for I get to be with you,” Nicole says.  Waverly leans back into her, pressing her palms against the back of Nicole’s hands and squeezing.  She feels what Waverly is trying to convey without words and it prompts her to place a kiss against Waverly’s temple.  She adds an afterthought pressed against Waverly’s skin, “That’s the best part.”

“You haven’t seen my present yet.  How do you know that’s the best part?” Waverly replies.

“Because I love every second I spend with you,” Nicole answers.  Waverly grunts, tapping her fingers against Nicole’s hands before tugging on them so she can move back to the stove.  “Even if it is spending all weekend with your best friend and her boyfriend.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed.  You still got laid,” Waverly says.

Nicole smiles tightly.  She knows Waverly is teasing but it still hits her a little hard.  She doesn’t know why it bothers her.  She knows that Waverly doesn’t really think that’s all she wants, but it still cuts her a little bit.  The moment fizzles out as Nicole feels the frustration settle into her bones.  Waverly doesn’t seem to think anything of it, or at least it appears that way as she continues cooking.

She finishes cooking rather quickly and dishes food out onto plates.  Nicole is momentarily distracted at how much Waverly looks at home.  Waverly brings the plates over to the island and sets one down in front of Nicole.  Waverly’s turning to move around to the other side of the island, but Nicole stops her before she can get too far.

“Hey, baby,” Nicole says softly, voice sounding small.  She stays sitting on the stool, eye level with Waverly for once.  She takes the extra plate out of Waverly’s hands and sets it down on the table.  “I don’t care about getting laid, ok?  I care about you.  I care about you being happy and safe.  I love being with you.  You know that, right?  You make me a better person and I just want to be sure you know it isn’t just about that.”

“I know it’s not,” Waverly says.

“I would be perfectly happy with you even if we never had sex again,” Nicole says.  The words fall out of her mouth and she hesitates.  Almost even holds her breath.

“Yeah,” Waverly says slowly, gripping at Nicole’s hand, “That isn’t happening.”

“Oh thank god,” Nicole says releasing her tense body.  She sighs loudly as they stare at each other.  Nicole lifts a hand and pushes Waverly’s hair behind her ear, palm lingering against Waverly’s jaw.  “I love you and you are what, who, matters most to me.”

“Ugh,” Waverly groans suddenly, loudly.  It throws Nicole off a bit.  She lets her hand slide down to Waverly’s neck, a questioning look taking over her face.  “I hate leaving you when you’re being so sweet.”

“We can have a fight to make it easier,” Nicole says with a smirk.

“I hate that more,” Waverly whines.

Nicole smiles cheekily as she slides her hands to Waverly’s hips, pulling her closer.  Waverly sinks into her without so much as a fight and immediately steals a kiss.  Nicole kisses her back, letting them do that for a while before she has to pull back to breathe.

“How about you don’t leave?” Nicole whispers against Waverly’s lips, suddenly very serious.

“One day,” Waverly says quietly.  She ducks her head into Nicole’s shoulder and she recognizes this as Waverly seeking warmth and refuge.  Moving her hands up Waverly’s spine, she pulls her into a hug and does her best to give comfort.  “I’ll always come back to you.”

“Yeah?” Nicole says, loosening her hold to pull back and look at Waverly’s face.  Waverly nods.  “You better.”

“So, I was going to wait until after we eat but I want to give it to you now,” Waverly says.  Nicole feels a rush of cold air as Waverly slips out of her arms.  She disappears into the living room only to return shortly.  She has something in her hand that Nicole thinks is about the same size as her birthday gift.  “I hope you like it.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it, baby,” Nicole says, taking the proffered gift into her hands.  Opening it slowly, Nicole tests the weight of it in her hands with frequent glances to Waverly’s face.  She’s distracted by the hopeful look on her girlfriend’s cute face.  “Stop being so cute.  It’s distracting.”

“Sorry,” Waverly says, shrinking a little bit into herself, “I just can’t wait to see your reaction when you open it.”

“Ok, well, I’m getting there,” Nicole says with a grin.  She can’t help herself.  She pushes forward and places a kiss on the corner of Waverly’s mouth before proceeding with the gift.  She gets it open and pops open the box, stopping in all of her movements when she sees what’s in the box.  “Waverly...”

“Do you love it?” Waverly asks quietly, “I got it because it’s a...it’s a promise that I’ll always be there when you need me.”

“This is, uh,” she starts, heaving out a huge sigh, “This is crazy.”

Waverly doesn’t say anything, just looks confused and slightly defeated.  Nicole shakes her head and stands to her feet, reaching into her pocket for a box not unlike the one Waverly gave her.  She fetches it out and sets it on the counter next to the box Waverly handed to her not too long ago.

“Oh god,” Waverly mutters, “You didn’t.  We didn’t.”

“I think maybe we did,” Nicole says.  She can’t help but grin as she opens the box and directs it more towards Waverly, revealing a ring that most definitely looks like it means a little bit more than just a promise.  She realizes that now as she looks at the one Waverly gave her. “Look, it can mean whatever you want it to mean.  I just wanted you to have it and like wear it and love it.”

“I do,” Waverly says, panic quickly spreading over her face, “Love it.  I love it.  It just looks so...expensive.”

“Only the best for my baby,” Nicole says with a smile on her face.  She notices the hesitance on Waverly’s face, like she thinks Nicole spent too much, and although it was a lot, Nicole doesn’t exactly see the problem.  She thinks what Waverly gave her is beautiful and perfect.  “Hey, come on.  I love what you got me.  It’s perfect.  Besides, you gave it to me so that automatically makes it better than anything else I have.”

Nicole doesn’t have a lot of jewelry to speak of.  A few things that her parents have given her, something from her grandmother, but nothing that really holds much importance to her.  She already knows that this means more to her than anything else has.

“Really?”

“Really, really,” Nicole answers with a firm nod.  She decides to ditch Waverly’s gift to do with what she pleases to really make sure Waverly understands it means a lot to her.  She reaches over and grabs the simple ring out of the box to slide it on her finger.  Staring at it for a moment, Nicole realizes that this looks a lot like exactly what she wants for the rest of her life.  “Damn, I look so officially taken now.”

She jabs her fist into the air which makes Waverly laugh.  They carry on to eat their dinner, chatting idly about a few things.  Nicole notices Waverly wearing the ring halfway through dinner and her heart swells, deciding to wait to find out what Waverly wants it to mean.

Over the course of dinner, Waverly tells her more about her childhood.  She learns a bit about her absent father, how he drank and drank until he wasn’t allowed to see them without giving up drinking.  How he has a relationship with Wynonna, although not a great one, but not one with her.  How she was at first jealous until she really started to lean into her Uncle Curtis who doesn’t speak to many people so openly like he does her.

It all makes her feel more connected to Waverly, like Waverly has a slight sense of understanding on how she feels.

After dinner, she insists that Waverly let her clean up after she has to head home.  Waverly begrudgingly agrees and let’s Nicole drag her to the living room.  They lean back in the couch are start marathoning some show on Netflix that neither of them have ever seen.  In part because Waverly doesn’t watch much television and the rest because Nicole doesn’t pay much attention when she doesn’t have someone to talk with during a show.

Their Valentine’s Day ends with a pin in it to be continued over the weekend.  After an away game that will take them almost 2 hours away.  Nicole knows they will be too tired when they get home to do anything other than go straight to bed, so she kisses Waverly a little extra long to savor their first celebration together that she knows she will never forget.

|

It’s chilly outside, but not as cold as it has been.  At least that’s what Nicole tells herself when she shrugs her jacket off to wrap it around Waverly’s shoulders to give her a little extra warmth.  She takes the rolls out of her long sleeves and tugs the ends as far down her wrists as she can muster.  She grasps her duffel bag with one of her hands before following Waverly off of the bus.  Her legs feel cramped, but they at least have arrived before daylight with enough time to spare for her to walk it out.

The rest of the group meanders into the gym without hesitation, but Nicole walks a little slower as she stretches her legs.  It takes a few moments for Waverly to catch on that she’s walking slower before she hangs back, keeping Nicole company.  They don’t say much at first, just watch the rest of the crowd go indoors.

Slowly, she realizes Waverly is staring at her with that smug grin.  Tilting her head carefully, Nicole arches an eyebrow and gives Waverly a questioning look in response.  She finally mutters, “What?  Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I think we’re alone,” Waverly replies.

She feels Waverly’s hand against her own before there’s a slight tug. Their fingers entwine and the feeling of that ring on Waverly’s finger presses against her skin, engraving the feeling into her brain that she wants to always remember.  Her eyes trail to their hands.  She can only muster a distracted, “Mmhmm.”

“Come ‘ere,” Waverly says quietly.  She turns to face Nicole, body leaning away as her other hand comes up to Nicole’s neck.  She feels Waverly’s fingers press into her neck, nails slightly digging in to the skin.  “I’ve been thinking...”

“Yeah?” Nicole breathes out.  She’s close enough now to feel Waverly’s hips against her own and it drives her forward until she has Waverly trapped against the brick wall.  Nicole’s bag hits her in the back of her thighs but all she can do is stare at Waverly, waiting to hear her out, wanting to kiss her.  “What have you been thinking?”

“I’ve been thinking,” Waverly repeats.  Waverly pushes up on her toes and Nicole feels lips ghost across hers.  She squeezes Waverly’s hand almost too tightly as she chases the kiss being pulled from her.  Stopping herself, she pulls back only to be urged back in by Waverly’s grasp on her neck.

Their lips meet hard, tongues immediately sliding out and twisting expertly against one another.  They kiss for a while, Nicole’s free hand coming up to her hip and giving it a gentle squeeze.  Waverly leans into her in response, almost forgetting exactly what’s to come as they mold around each other.

Hesitantly, Nicole pulls back and rests her forehead against Waverly’s.  She says, “God, baby, I want you so bad.”

“I want you, too,” Waverly replies.

“You’re getting me all worked up,” Nicole says with a groan.

“Oh, baby,” Waverly says, voice all gravelly and sensual, “I’ve been on the bus with you for the last two hours while you’re doing that thing.”

“What thing?” She says, confused and slightly defensive.  Her hand still presses against Waverly’s hip, fingers fisting her cheerleading skirt.  She’s momentarily distracted by Waverly’s fingers tracing her chin and tapping at her bottom lip to which she bites at.

“Where you trace patterns into my skin,” Waverly says softly, “It was driving me crazy.”

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Nicole says, “Come with me.”

Turning on her heel, Nicole tugs Waverly into the building.  After checking that the coast is clear, she pulls Waverly down a hallway that’s empty until Nicole find a nook to press her into.  Nicole places a gentle kiss to Waverly’s mouth before using her hips in her favor.  Waverly is accepting to the motion, grasping at the front of Nicole’s shirt.

Trailing her lips from Waverly’s to her jaw.  She leans into Waverly’s ear and says, “This what you want?”

“More,” Waverly answers.

Nicole only hesitates for a split second before she gives into Waverly’s requests.  She moves one hand down between them and immediately feels Waverly fold into her.  She plants lazy kisses against Waverly’s neck, etching shapes just below the hem of her skirt.  Waverly lets out a moan that echoes off of the lockers.  She sighs out and slips her hand between Waverly’s legs.  She feels how wet Waverly is and it only serves to turn her on more.

“God,” She grunts into the crook of Waverly’s neck, “You’re really wet.”

“Stop teasing,” Waverly whines.  It echoes throughout the hallway so softly that it makes Nicole still to see if someone is going to come upon them.  She brushes her fingers along Waverly’s panty line and it prompts a shudder.  “Hurry.”

Nicole slips her fingers beneath the material and into Waverly, stroking slowly and kindly.  She says, “I’ve got you, baby.”

“Yes,” Waverly replies, air leaving her lungs.

Nicole feels Waverly’s leg wrap around her calf, the movement opening her up even more.  Nicole gulps before pressing another kiss to Waverly’s neck, sweeping her tongue there, and biting down.  She sucks absently as she moves her hand slowly and works Waverly up until she starts breathing harder.

A few minutes of Nicole pressing her fingers into Waverly passes and she hears Waverly whisper into her ear, “I’m close.”

Her girlfriend has been thrusting subtly against her hand, helping the process along.  Good thing, too, because Nicole really didn’t have time to do this and is risking a potential reaming from her coach.  However, she does like that the danger seems to turn Waverly on.

“Come for me,” she says, like she can command it, but it seems to do enough.  They don’t normally talk a lot during sexual encounters.  It’s usually all mouths and tongues and making love, but she’s noticed the danger really makes them chatty.  She doesn’t hate it.

“Faster,” Waverly croaks.  She quickly complies until a scream topples out of Waverly’s mouth.  Nicole’s eyes widen as Waverly rides her orgasm, both arms pulling Nicole close.  Waverly giggles against Nicole’s chest and she looks down, seeing that she’s at least a little embarrassed.  “Shit, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, baby,” Nicole says, grinning, “It’s sexy.  You’re sexy.”

“We better go,” Waverly says, righting herself on her feet.

“Kiss really quick,” Nicole replies.  Waverly pushes up on her toes and meets her in the middle.  Nicole immediately wraps her arm around Waverly’s middle and keeps her close for a moment longer.  She sighs when they pull apart, more annoyed now than before. “Ok, we better go.”

Taking Waverly’s hand again, she threads their fingers together before heading down a hallway.  They get lost, unable to find the gym for a few minutes, their laughter echoing throughout the hallway.  If Nicole has to hazard a guess, she would say that it’s the laughter that gave their positioning away to Coach Lucado who interrupts them with a sharp sounding, “Haught!”

Nicole cringes instinctively but doesn’t let go of Waverly’s hand.  They follow Coach Lucado down the hallways until they make it to the locker room.  Pressing a fleeting kiss to the back of Waverly’s hand, she finally lets go to head into the locker room.  She ignores her coach’s glare while heading into the room and quickly changes into her uniform.

She makes it to the court and starts in on her stretches.  Halfway into her hamstring stretches where she’s bent over to touch her toes she hears a whistle, she looks over her shoulder and sees Waverly leering at her.  Nicole catches her eye and they hold their gaze for a moment before she sends Waverly a wink.  Waverly blushes slightly but ultimately winks back.

She continues with her stretches and does her pre-game warmups.  She mostly tries to stay in motion so Coach Lucado doesn’t get a moment to chew her out again.  She can still smell Waverly all around her.  Throughout the first quarter she keeps looking over at Waverly to see a smirk on her face, looking quite proud of herself for them sneaking off so Nicole feeds off of the energy.

She’s playing a rather decent game when she’s going for the ball and slams her finger into the rubber.  It makes a weird noise at the contact and it bounces out of bounds.  She lets out a groan as she looks over at Waverly.  Panic is written all over her girlfriend’s face, and she watches in horror as Waverly takes off onto the court.  Someone manages to hold Waverly back as Coach Lucado comes up to Nicole.

“Haught,” Coach Lucado says, “You alright?”

Nicole releases her right hand and holds it up in front of her face, taking a look at the appendage.  Her finger is already swelling up and it looks a tad bit skewed.  She takes a look at Waverly again, looking past her hand to see that Chrissy has managed to calm Waverly down.  Nicole nods her head slowly and drags her gaze over to Coach Lucado.

Gameplay proceeds.  She discovers that she is not actually fine with every move she tries to make using her right hand.  She switches her dribbles to her left hand, which is comparable to most, but her aim to shoot with her left hand leaves a lot to be desired.  Thankfully, the second quarter ends soon enough.

Waverly follows her into the locker room, ignoring Coach Lucado’s protests.  Their team doesn’t actually have a medic and their assistant coach isn’t much.  Nicole sits on a bench next to the rest of her team, Waverly immediately sitting beside her and taking Nicole’s hand into her lap.

Waverly examines her hand as Coach Lucado gives them a pep talk.  Nicole isn’t really paying much attention because she’s too busy being distracted by the pain in her hand.  She’s hissing with every movement, the pain sharp as it bites at her wrist.

“You can’t play,” Waverly says softly while Coach Lucado talks.

“What?  I have to,” Nicole replies sharp and loud, “It’s just a jammed finger.”

“I think it’s broken,” Waverly says.

Unconvinced, Nicole quickly shakes her head. She says, “It’s fine. Seriously.”

The rest of the room starts moving around them as her team heads back out to the court.  Nicole makes eye contact with Coach Lucado who gives her a narrowed look, trying to tell her not to dawdle.  She tries to pull her hand out of Waverly’s grasp but that doesn’t come without pain.

“Baby, you can’t even move it,” Waverly says.

Nicole looks around and confirms that they are, in fact, alone now.  She throws a leg over the bench and closes the distance between her and Waverly.  Waverly reaches for her hand again, pulling it up between them to have another look.

“I can move it just fine,” Nicole says again.  She tries wiggling her finger but it fails.  All it manages to do is cause her pain.  “Fuck.”

“Baby,” Waverly says pointedly.  Nicole lifts her gaze to Waverly’s and stares there.  She sighs, knowing she’s going to fold with little persuasion.  Waverly lowers her mouth to Nicole’s palm and places a kiss there.  “I’m sorry.  I know how important basketball is to you.  I really think you should sit the rest of this game out so it doesn’t get any worse.  Please?”

“Are you sure?” Nicole says, like she’s forgotten just how shitty she played the rest of the quarter.  Waverly nods, lowering Nicole’s hand to her lap.  “Who’s going to break the news to Coach?”

When they exit the locker room, they go their separate ways.  Nicole heads directly to the bench while Waverly goes off to the concession stand to see if she can get some ice.  She sits in a chair in wait, hoping that Coach Lucado doesn’t come up to her before Waverly can get her something for the pain.  A few minutes pass and Waverly makes it back with a baggie filled with ice and a bottle of aspirin.

Waverly spends the rest of half time helping Nicole get situated before heading back to the squad with a pout.  Nicole sits out the rest of the game, sitting as far away from Coach Lucado as she can and spending too much time looking at her hand trying to figure out how long she’s going to be out.  The game ends with a major loss that doesn’t really surprise anyone after her sitting out the rest of the game.  She feels more exhausted than she should considering she didn’t even play as much as usual, and she goes to the locker room with her hand numb.  The pills have finally kicked in, taking away some of the pain but not all of it.

About 10 minutes after returning to the locker room Waverly comes in with that same look in her eyes.  Nicole hasn’t even started changing yet, not after she’s discovered she’s pretty useless left handed and could only get as far as bending over to get the knot out of her shoe without actually being able to get the knot out of her shoe.

The locker room starts to clear rather quickly as Waverly wordlessly moves to her, helping her with her shoes.  She’s barely kicked them off when the door closes behind the last person and she slumps over.  Waverly catches her and let’s Nicole cry into her shoulder.  Tears of exhaustion fall slowly and quickly before Waverly helps her change out of her uniform and back into her normal clothes.

The uniform comes off easily, but putting on the pants takes a bit more effort.  It’s a balancing act that requires her to use mostly her left hand to do all of the work and whatever Waverly contributes, which is most of the work.  When they get the pants buttoned, Nicole lifts her left hand to Waverly’s chin and tilts her head up to look her in the eye.

“Thank you.  I don’t know what I would do without you,” Nicole says.  She doesn’t give Waverly a chance to say anything in return before she plants a chaste kiss to her lips.  She rests her forehead against Waverly’s, dropping her hand to find her girlfriend’s.  “I love you.”

“I love you, too, baby,” Waverly says softly.  She helps Nicole put her button up on which is a much easier task than the pants before they move on to Nicole’s shoes.  They are a slim ankle boot with thin laces that Waverly huffs at.  She stands up triumphant, but Nicole immediately pulls her down onto her lap.  “I’m gonna take care of you.”

“Awe,” Nicole says softly, “I’ll be fine, okay?  Nothing to worry about.  It’ll be all good by Monday.”

Waverly reaches for the hand again to get a better look at now that it’s been iced.  It doesn’t look much better, if at all.  As the night goes on, she notices that the pain comes back with a vengeance.  Waverly takes care of her throughout the weekend and she visits the nurse first thing Monday morning.

She should know by now that Waverly is always right.

|

Nicole has had a hell of a time dealing with this broken finger.  She’s fairly useless with her left hand and can’t do much more than drive with it.  She even feels weird when she’s trying to hold Waverly’s hand while walking through the halls.  That factor could have something to do with Waverly walking on the outside and getting rammed by half of the people who try to pass them.  On top of that, Nicole can barely keep up with taking notes in class.  Thankfully she shares most classes with Waverly who has beautiful penmanship and is an excellent note taker.  The only class she’s having an even harder time in is history.

Halfway through the week she has plans to meet up with Waverly at the coffee shop in town so they can study.  They both have discovered that when they really need to focus on work they shouldn’t stay at either of their houses because they become easily distracted by one another.  Of course she had forgotten something important at home like her wallet and had to take a pit stop there.

She parks her car in the driveway and hops out, running up the front steps.  She quickly unlocks the front door and starts to run up the stairs to grab her wallet when there’s a noise down the hallway that stops her in her tracks.  Her parents are engaged in a screaming match which is typical for them when they return from a trip, pent up aggression from their perfect appearance spilling out before they head to their separate bedrooms.

For a moment, she considers alerting them to her being home so they go to their corners to cool off for a bit, but the last thing she wants is to sit in their awkward silence when she could be with Waverly.  She slips into her room and grabs her wallet off of the floor, clearly having fallen in her rush to leave.  As she’s exiting the bedroom, she nearly slams into another person who is steaming from the ears.

She’s looking her father straight in the eye, his glare softening when his brain catches up.  He doesn’t look thrilled to see her, but she has always had a much better relationship with him than her mother.  Maybe in part because her mother wanted a doll that she could dress up and flaunt around while proclaiming she has a beautiful daughter to pass along their genetic superiority.  She definitely threw a wrench in their plan when she told them she’s a lesbian, not that they’d taken much issue with it.  Well, not outwardly anyway.

“Dad, you’re home,” she says, surprised, “I had no idea you would be home today.  I’m just on my way out.”

He sighs heavily, clearly annoyed but possibly not even at her.  He says, “That’s fine.”

His dismissive tone is filled with all of that bottled energy where he wants to aggravate Nicole’s mother.  She’s dealt with it all a thousand times.  She gives him a curt nod and heads back downstairs to her car.  She only casts a glance back once before taking off and heading to the coffee shop.

When she gets there, she’s distracted and her mind is swirling.  She doesn’t know what to piece together when she gathers her backpack up and carts herself into the coffee shop.  She immediately spots Waverly, but her eyes are wide and her brain is frozen.  Sitting across from Waverly, she manages a smile.

“Baby,” Waverly says, voice a little whiny.  Nicole barely looks at her, more like through her, but she can’t quite clear her vision to focus on Waverly.  She feels a hand cover hers.  “Are you ok?”

“I just,” Nicole says, sighing, “I went home and my parents were there.”

“Is that...?”

“I don’t know,” Nicole says, finally shaking her head and getting to see Waverly clearly.

She offers Waverly another more pointed smile like she’s finally getting her thoughts together.  Realizing she hadn’t even greeted Waverly properly, Nicole stands and moves to Waverly’s side of the table.  She sits down beside Waverly on the bench against the wall and leans towards her, planting a kiss against the corner of Waverly’s mouth.

“What did they say?” Waverly asks quietly.

“Same as always,” Nicole says, “Nothing.  I barely crossed paths with my dad and when I told him I was leaving he didn’t really give a shit.  It’s just, I don’t know, usually easier without them around.”

“Do you want to come to my house for dinner?”

“Would that be ok?” Nicole asks, leaning back, “Don’t you have to clear it with Gus and Curtis?”

“They love you, Nicole,” Waverly says softly, “You’re always welcome at our house.”


	13. And One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole's finger isn't the only thing broken.

It’s been a trying few days since her parents got home.  Probably less than 48 hours, but it’s really cut in to her Waverly time.  Of course they’ve seen each other at school and they’ve texted periodically, but they’re used to having more free time to just be with each other even if it’s just an hour here and there.

It feels a little weird inviting Waverly over with her parents home because they haven’t stopped screaming at each other.  As open and honest as she is with Waverly, that’s a side of her life that she doesn’t really want to expose to her girlfriend.  Hell, she’s hardly even been able to get sleep because they scream at each other into all hours of the morning.  It’s making her miserable.

She sits through another game where she’s warming the bench, cursing her broken finger while trying to maintain a broody look every time her and Waverly connect eyes.  Being on the bench gives her a lot of time to think about the lack of appearance from either of her parents and when the buzzer goes off she sulks about their lack of support.  She can see that Coach Lucado is about as proud as she can be without their star player, a loss recorded in the books.

She makes her way over to the bleachers and takes a seat, her whole body collapsing against the metal.  This seems to catch Waverly’s attention from the court area where she’s by the cheerleaders.  The group disperses, taking their between games break.

Waverly makes her way over to Nicole, sitting beside her and slipping a hand under Nicole’s arm.  Nicole feels herself relax slightly with Waverly’s palm pressing against her thigh.  The weight of Waverly pressed against her takes all of her stresses away.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Waverly whispers.

“Nothing,” Nicole insists.

“Hey,” Waverly says softly, “Come here.”

Waverly is standing up rather quickly and grasping her good hand, tugging her off of the bleachers.  She isn’t given much of a choice but to follow with Waverly’s strength.  She’s lead out of the gym and into the hallway where it’s quiet and they are alone.

“Talk to me,” Waverly tries again.

“I knew I wasn’t playing tonight but I guess I kind of hoped they would show up to be a little supportive,” she grumbles.  The feeling of Waverly’s hands cupping her cheeks makes her feel focused and a little bit better.  “I just wanted support.”

“I’m gonna always, always support you,” Waverly says, “I don’t know if that means anything but-“

“It does, baby,” Nicole says barely above a whisper, “More than you know.  It means everything to me, ok?  It’s the only thing that matters to me.”

“I’m gonna be here for you every step of the way,” Waverly reassures.  They stare at each other and she can feel a dopey smile splitting across her face.  Is this how she always looks at Waverly?  God, she really is obvious.  “Now, how is that finger feeling?”

“It’s broken,” Nicole pouts.  Her bottom lip is jutted out and Waverly pushes up on her toes to place a kiss there.  Nicole grins against Waverly’s mouth.  “You always know what to say to make me feel better.”

Waverly has to go back out to cheer for the next game, but they do make plans to study at Nicole’s house the next day after school.  Nicole no longer cares what her parents might say.  The most important person in the world to her is Waverly Earp.

|

Her parents don’t bat an eyelash when her and Waverly walk right past them and up the stairs after practice lets out.  She feels dirty because she spent most of practice doing conditioning drills so she doesn’t end up getting too far behind.  She can’t much practice on passing drills or even scrimmaging, despite that she has had an opportunity to work on her left handed shots.  She’s improved slightly.

They shut the bedroom door behind them so as not to invite any outside noise.  Besides, the vast emptiness of the rest of the house on a normal basis has created a habit that’s hard to break.  Waverly immediately makes herself comfortable on Nicole’s bed while she goes to take a quick shower.  Of course Waverly knows her parents.  They like her.  They think that she’s a lovely girl.  But she hasn’t had a formal introduction as Nicole’s girlfriend mostly because Nicole’s parents are absent.

The shower is very quick and she possibly leaves in shampoo or conditioner because she’s struggling with her left hand.  By the time she’s out and she manages to shimmy on a pair of sweatpants, Waverly has the entire bed covered in books and notes.  Her hair is wet and her body is sore.  All she really wants to do is curl up next to Waverly and take a nap.

She pushes Waverly’s books and notes aside to sit on the bed, her right thigh presses against Waverly’s left thigh.  Waverly’s wearing a fairly high riding skirt that exposes most of her thigh and a crop top that shows that sweet, creamy skin of her stomach.  Nicole forgot that as winter faded away, so did the material of Waverly’s clothing.  Especially since she used to pretend she didn’t notice Waverly at all.

Nicole leans all of the way back until she hits the mattress, body screaming at the fact that it finally gets to relax.  She feels her muscles start to tense up, so she moves her right hand to the exposed skin of Waverly’s back, careful to keep the splint on her finger safe.  She absently starts drawing shapes with her fingertips and only realizes it when Waverly shivers beneath her touch.

“Is it normal for my left arm to be so sore?” Nicole mutters.

“You’re relying on it a lot more than normal,” Waverly replies, “You can’t use your right hand and you’re useless with your left hand.”

“Oh yeah?” Nicole says.  She feels this as a challenge that she’s willing to rise to.  Rolling over in a fluid motion, she pushes against Waverly until she lays back on the bed and Nicole hovers above her.  “Am not.  I’m still fully capable of using my hands.”

Waverly presses her hands against Nicole’s shoulders but doesn’t push her away.  She says, “We’re supposed to be studying.”

“All we ever do is study,” Nicole whines.  Waverly’s knees come up around her hips and tightens, keeping her steady there.

“Oh please,” Waverly says with a sigh, “We make out like most of the time.”

“We could be making out right now,” Nicole points out, “I can show you just how good I am with my hands.”

“Nicole,” Waverly sighs.  She feels Waverly wrap a leg around Nicole’s.  The feeling of Waverly’s calf against the back of her leg only encourages her.  “I just don’t want you to hurt yourself even more.”

“I’m fine,” Nicole says, pulling her hands around to Waverly’s thighs.  She rubs her thumbs along the hem of Waverly’s skirt and groans dramatically.  She watches Waverly grin widely and it only makes her shine brighter.  “You’re so beautiful.”

She gives up at the thighs and lifts her hand to Waverly’s face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.  Waverly says, “You’re too sweet to me.”

“I just love you, baby,” Nicole says quietly.  She leans down and kisses Waverly slowly, soft lips warm and welcoming.  Their tongues touch briefly but she gets distracted by Waverly arching up into her body.  She pulls back breathless.  She rubs her nose against Waverly’s and whispers, “Did you do that on purpose?”

Waverly shakes her head and cups Nicole’s face saying, “It’s what you do to me.”

“That’s hot,” Nicole murmurs.

They kiss more, hands not really exploring much by any means.  She sweeps her thumb across Waverly’s skin on occasion but keeps her other hand near Waverly’s hair to keep it out of the way.  She doesn’t feel rushed, and she’s ready to abandon the idea of homework and studying completely.

She feels Waverly’s hands slide to her neck, fingers sticking to the bits of wet hair she has there.  Waverly sighs against her mouth and it prompts her to slip her tongue out against the corner of Waverly’s mouth.  She feels Waverly’s teeth quickly secure around her bottom lip and suck it into her mouth, teasing her.

“I hope you’re not paying her for that,” a voice says from Nicole’s right.

Begrudgingly, Nicole pulls back and puts some space between them before looking towards the doorway.  Her mother is staring them down.  She looks rather pleasant and unaffected on the surface, but Nicole can see that fire burning in her eyes.  She swallows thickly, gathering her nerves as she glances back at her girlfriend beneath her.

“I pay her with kisses now,” Nicole says, “It’s a rather even exchange.”

“Hm,” Nicole’s mother says, “Cute.”

“Totally,” Nicole smirks.

“I wanted to talk about the Country Club event once your guest leaves,” Nicole’s mother continues.

“Uh, sure,” Nicole says, again casting a quick glance to her girlfriend.

They are no longer entangled.  In fact, Waverly looks slightly uncomfortable to be face to face with her mother this way.  She’s sitting up, legs crossed at the ankles, pretending as though she isn’t sitting in Nicole’s bedroom where she’s spent many weekends.  Nicole quietly sits up as well, entering into a staring match until her mother finally caves and exits the bedroom to leave them alone again.

“Jesus,” Waverly mutters quietly, “That was intense.”

“They just don’t understand boundaries,” Nicole reassures.  She places a soothing hand against Waverly’s back.  Gradually, her hand smooths down Waverly’s spine until it settles against the small of her back.  “They think they don’t have to be around like ever and when they are they just walk around like they own the place.”

“Well...” Waverly points out, small yet teasing smile playing on her lips.

“Shush,” Nicole says with a small laugh, “You know what I mean.”

“Should I maybe go?” Waverly’s asks.

“I don’t want you to,” Nicole grumbles.  They sit in silence for a few minutes.  They lean their sides into each other and she lets herself feel Waverly’s warmth.  The thought of losing contact makes Nicole lift her arm and wrap it around Waverly tightly.  She sighs loudly before she says, “You probably should.  I’m really sorry my mom is being so weird.  Don’t worry though.  They’ll be gone again soon enough and you’ll have me all to yourself again.”

“Lunch in the library tomorrow?” Waverly asks.

Nicole nods while offering a small smile.  She quickly hooks a finger beneath Waverly’s chin so she can place a chaste kiss against her mouth.  The kiss lingers for a bit, soft and warm and a promise for their future.  She blindly reaches for Waverly’s hand and grasps it tightly.  The feeling of the ring on Waverly’s finger pressing against her skin makes her smile for real.

“I’ll miss you,” Nicole whispers as she pulls back.

“I know.  Me too,” Waverly absently agrees.

With a disjointed sigh, Nicole stands to her feet and helps Waverly get her notes together.  They get all of the items back into Waverly’s bag save for Nicole’s copy of the notes that Waverly had made in the library after practice and they move towards the bedroom door.  They descend the stairs together and she instinctively grabs for Waverly’s hand.  She walks Waverly all of the way to her Jeep and gives her a lengthy kiss before saying bye.  When she makes it back inside, her parents are both on her like vultures on a dead carcass.

“What do you think you’re doing, Nicole?” Her dad says, voice dripping with a judgment she’s never heard from him.

“I was trying to study,” she replies calmly, “I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“The big deal is that you were paying her to tutor you and now you’re necking in your bedroom?” Her father says, “Inexcusable.”

“Necking?  Who even says that anymore?” Nicole says eyes narrowing on how parents.  They both look angrier than she’s ever seen them and she doesn’t really know what to do.  Not when it comes to possibly the most extraordinary person she’s ever known.

“She’s beneath us, Nicole,” her father says, “Her family is scum.  She’s using you to get to our money.”

“Not everyone needs to wipe their ass with hundred dollar bills.  What’s wrong with you people?  There’s more to life than money,” Nicole says, raising her voice.  She groans loudly, rolling her eyes so hard that it almost gives her a headache.  “She doesn’t care about your stupid money.  No one cares about your stupid money.”

“Oh please,” her father scoffs, “You enjoy our stupid money quite a bit from the looks of your bank account.  What?  Been taking her family on shopping sprees at the local market?”

“I’m not doing this shit with you guys,” Nicole says.

She stomps up the stairs to her bedroom.  She shuts the door a little harder than normal and thinks back to all of the times her mom used to follow her when she was a kid and coddled her when she was angry.  Nicole always got her way when she was a kid.  It’s a wonder to even her that she isn’t a total piece of shit.

She shoots Waverly a text giving her a quick rundown of their conversation, leaving out the parts about her.

_(5:48pm): got into a fight with my parents_

_(6:06pm): Just pulled into the driveway. Are you ok?_

_(6:07pm): I’m fine. They just make me so mad. They’re delusional._

_(6:09pm): What did they say?_

_(6:10pm): They just think the world revolves around their stupid money  
(6:11pm): Anyway, I miss you _

_(6:13pm): I miss you, too, cutie_

They text off and on throughout the night.

Her parents never come to check on her.

She doesn’t even eat dinner.

|

The last few days with her parents have been total scrutiny.  She’s been ambushed.  She’s been interrogated.  She’s been profusely reminded that Waverly Earp is not made as the same stuff as she is.

For the most part, she’s kept her mouth shut.  All it’s done is made her angry.  But she knows that in the blink of an eye they’ll be gone and she won’t hear from them again for months.  If ever again.

They haven’t approached her with a subject unrelated to Waverly once and she wonders if they really even care about what happens beyond tarnishing the Haught name.  Even though tarnishing in any way, shape or form is not something Waverly is capable of.  After all, Waverly is the town sweetheart.

Although her initial plan was to have Waverly accompany her to the event at the country club with her, her parents were absolutely against it.  After the way the last few days have gone, she isn’t necessarily surprised one bit.  She just doesn’t care about even pretending to be happy at this thing to keep up her parents’ ridiculous facade.

She dresses up in some nice clothing, a pair of nice pants and a button down.  She doesn’t even wear a tie.  She doesn’t particularly go all out for these things anymore, and people mostly only want to talk to her about basketball these days.  Waverly is almost the only person in general who wants to talk to her about anything else.

After about the 7th person mentions something to her about the season and jokes about her broken finger, she’s tired of the people.  She excuses herself out of the main hall and goes into the hallway, immediately fishing her phone out of her pocket to see if Waverly has texted her.  She has a missed text from Waverly, a series of flailing letters and the heart eyes emoji in response to the picture she’d sent.  It’s the first time she’s smiled all night, but as she’s typing at a reply she decides that isn’t enough and calls instead.

The phone rings twice before Waverly picks up.  When she says hello, it’s chirpy and warm and lifts Nicole’s spirits. S he releases a sigh of relief and says, “Hey, baby.”

“Shouldn’t you be at the party?” Waverly says, no malice in her voice.

“It sucks,” Nicole replies quickly, “These people suck.  Everything sucks.  Except you.  You’re amazing.”

“Awe, baby,” Waverly coos.

“I wish you were with me,” Nicole says.  The weight feels heavy on her shoulders.  She hates this empty feeling deep inside of her at the absence of her partner.  She knows one thing; she will never do another dinner like this without Waverly again.  “Ugh, everyone here loves you.  I don’t get the problem.”

“It’s a hiccup, baby,” Waverly says, “It’ll all work out.”

“God,” Nicole groans, frustrated that her parents couldn’t love someone like this, “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, baby.  Do you feel better?”

“Hearing your voice always helps,” Nicole replies.  She smiles slightly, finally finding the energy to proceed with the rest of the night.  “Thank you, Waves, for being you.”

“Whatever you need, baby,” Waverly says.  Nicole can hear her smile through the phone line and she really wonders how she ever made it this far without Waverly.  Nicole turns to face the main room, preparing herself to go back in there, and stills in her movements as she sees her mom standing there, glaring at her.  “Call me later.”

“I will,” she confirms.

She hangs up the phone and puts it back into her pocket, tucking away the conversation she’s just had with Waverly.  She buries it away, the vulnerability and softness she’s just felt and calls up a more hardened shell that will protect her from whatever her mother might say.  All she knows is that if Waverly’s name comes out of her mother’s mouth, she’s out of here.

“Nicole,” her mother says, warm yet stern, “This is for your own good.  There’s a whole world outside of Purgatory and Waverly Earp just doesn’t fit in.”

“You don’t even know her,” Nicole says, angry and voice gravelly, “You’re too busy walking around with your head in your own ass that you can’t see she’s the best of the best.  She’s made me a better person and, in case you haven’t noticed, she’s pretty much the only reason around here that I’m happy.”

“There’s a lot more to life than being happy,” her mother retorts.

“Like money?  Yeah, fuck your money,” Nicole snaps.

She charges past her mother, stepping around her like she’s going to contract some weird disease only rich people have.  She ignores every eye on her as she walks through the ballroom until she’s outside, met with the cold night air.  She doesn’t care about how cold it is, just keeps walking down the road in search of the main road.  She’s walking for a few minutes, hands in her pockets, when headlights shine on her.  She immediately recognizes the car when she glances over her shoulder and it pulls to a stop next to her.

“Nicole, get in,” Shae says, “I’ll give you a ride home.”

“No,” Nicole says, popping open the car door, “Take me to Waverly’s.  I don’t want to see them.”

Once she’s settled with the seat belt buckled, Shae puts the car in drive and starts heading towards Waverly’s house.  They don’t talk much.  Shae has never been a person who has figured out how to get Nicole to talk when she’s angry.  Besides, now, all Nicole wants to do is talk to Waverly.

Right outside of Waverly’s neighborhood Shae says, “I’m sorry, Nicole.  Waverly is good for you and your parents just don’t know either of you well enough to see that.”

“Yeah,” Nicole absently replies.  They stay silent until they’re out in front of Waverly’s house.  Nicole sucks in a deep breath as she takes in the sight of the house.  The lights are off in every room except Waverly’s.  She reaches up for the door handle, careful to avoid her finger.  “Thanks, Shae.  I really appreciate it.”

She nods and Nicole climbs out of the car.  She stands on the sidewalk and looks up at Waverly’s room as she digs her phone out of her pocket.  She blindly fumbles with it until her eyes leave the window, looking down at the screen to dial Waverly.  It rings once before Waverly’s greeting her in that peppy, inviting tone.

“Hey,” Nicole says, “Let me in.”

“What?” Waverly says.  Nicole watches her peel back her curtain and look down.  Nicole waves slightly before glancing over her shoulder to see that Shae is already gone.  “Baby!”

It’s less than a minute before Waverly is at the front door, letting her in.  Nicole nearly drops her phone as Waverly slams into her, placing a hard kiss against Nicole’s mouth.  Nicole grins and wraps both arms around Waverly’s waist, holding her there until there’s a breeze that makes Waverly shiver in her arms.

“Hey,” Nicole whispers, pulling back, “Can I come upstairs?”

“Yes!” Waverly’s says loudly before censoring herself, “We have to be quiet because Gus and Curtis are asleep.”

They quietly make their way through the house to Waverly’s bedroom.  With the door securely shut behind them, Waverly leads Nicole over to her bed where Nicole takes a seat while Waverly closes the space between them.  She feels Waverly’s hands press against her jaw and guide her face up for them to lock eyes.

“What happened?” Waverly asks.

“My mom opened her big mouth,” Nicole admits, “And I needed to see you.”

“Well, come on,” Waverly says, dropping a hand to Nicole’s left one and clutching it tightly, “Let me take you home.”

“No,” Nicole says, voice sharp and certain, “I’m not going back there.  All they want from me is to break up with you and I’m not doing it.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Waverly says, hands steadying her.

“Come here,” Nicole says softly as she pulls Waverly into her lap.

All she does is hold Waverly close until they’re both so tired that they forget about rules and crawl into bed together.

|

Waverly has to drive her home in the morning to get a change of clothes and her car.  They manage to not cross paths with Gus and Curtis, by the grace of the universe, or her parents and she’s guessing they ended up getting too drunk to bring themselves home.  Better for her.  She packs away all of her basketball stuff for the game tonight even though she isn’t dressing to play, even stuffing away a few changes of clothes.  The truth if the matter is that their weekend will most likely be spent quite different than the routine they’re used to.

Waverly won’t be coming over.  In fact, there’s a huge chance she won’t even be coming home after the game in an attempt to entirely avoid her parents.  She fully expects Gus and Curtis to make her sleep on the couch or, worse, in Wynonna’s room with walls plastered with posters of death metal bands.  She goes ahead and stuffs a few things she can’t live without in her bag, just in case.  She makes sure to grab the ring Waverly gave her and put it on, too, despite the fact that she isn’t much accustomed to jewelry.

This is all, of course, pending Gus and Curtis’ approval.  Otherwise, there’s a firm chance she’ll have to go home tonight and start planning a fake break up.  A fake break up, however, is completely the opposite of what she wants to do.

The school day is extremely stressful.  More stressful than it should be.  The rich kids, save for Shae surprisingly, are all glaring at her.  Her ex-girlfriend, however, is giving her a rather sympathetic look.  She’s sure there’s a story running around out there that’s an elaboration on the truth because everyone she’s ever known loves Waverly.  She pretty sure even Shae loves her now.

After school, they grab a bite at the coffee shop in town and she sees a help wanted sign.  For a moment, she entertains the idea. She could move out and into an apartment of her own.  The thoughts start rolling through her head, when the reality and logistics are just not making that a likely option.

Waverly drinks a tea while she drinks a cappuccino and they both get something to snack on before the game.  They don’t linger for too long in the space, just drink their drinks and go on their way.  They don’t even really talk a lot, just enjoy their comfortable silence.  Once they leave, they get back into Nicole’s vehicle and head back to the school.  They had swung by Waverly’s house but neither Gus nor Curtis were there.  She’s guessing, at this point, she’s going to be a surprise for them and isn’t confident she’ll be a good one.

They pull back into the school parking lot and make their way inside.  Not a lot of people have arrived just yet.  Many of the parents and towns people haven’t come.  One thing Nicole has learned from growing up in this small town is that everyone is into high school sports regardless of which sport it is.  The other team hasn’t even arrived yet.

When they enter the gym, it’s practically empty.  The cheerleaders are gathered on the bleachers for their pre-game pep talk that they always have.  Nicole grabs a basketball and starts lining up at the free throw line.  She balances the ball in her left hand and starts throwing up shots.  She doesn’t make any of them but she is getting better with her left hand.

After a while, the other team arrives.  Nicole has given up shooting around because her arm is getting too sore and the other team looks pretty relieved to see her sitting in the bleachers as she looks at the splint.  The other team eyes her suspiciously and she can’t stop smirking at them when Waverly comes over to take her hand to look it over.  She takes her eyes off of the team to look at her girlfriend who quickly tells her to leave it alone and let it heal.

“Baby,” Nicole says gravely, “I’m fine.  Don’t worry, ok?”

“You keep saying that,” Waverly replies.

“And yet,” Nicole starts, “You still worry. You’re adorable.”

The tail end of the team is still staring at her and for a brief moment she thinks that if she can’t play tonight then she can at least make them jealous that she has a hot girlfriend.  Waverly sighs in response before dropping her hand.  She feels Waverly press hands to her face, fingertips pressing against her neck.  Waverly says, “You know I can’t help but worry about you.  I love you.”

“I know, baby,” Nicole says, giving Waverly a smile.  She forgets about the stares of the other team as she looks up into Waverly’s big, warm eyes.  She lifts her hands to Waverly’s hips, pushing her fingertips up just below the hem of her cheerleading top.  “But you don’t have to.”

“Hey, lovebirds,” Chrissy says from right beside them.

They hear a loud noise across the gym.  She looks around Waverly at the same time that Waverly steps away from her.  She misses the contact immediately, but the frustration is refueled throughout her veins at the sight of her father.  He has an annoying swagger that indicates he’s ready for a fight and it rubs Nicole the wrong way.

She stands to her feet and makes her way down the bleachers.  She meets him halfway by the half court line and she stands tall so she’s looking him directly in the eye.  They are nearly the same height now.  Either he’s lied about his height, been shrinking, or she’s taller than she thought.

“Dad,” she says, “What are you doing here?”

“You’re making a disgrace of your family name,” he replies quickly, “I’ve told you time and time again we don’t date beneath us.  She isn’t good enough for someone of your status.”

Nicole stills entirely with one thought on her mind: _Waverly_.

She tosses a glance over her shoulder to look at her girlfriend.  Waverly doesn’t look much bothered by his words but Nicole’s chest still aches.  She doesn’t like when anyone says something negative about Waverly, let alone her own father.

“You don’t get to dictate the person I’m with,” Nicole says.  She turns her gaze back to her dad and narrows those eyes that are filled with rage.  “And I’m not going to hurt someone I care about just because your ego believes that she’s using me.”

“She’s making you look bad,” he says.  She laughs.  It’s quiet but it echoes throughout the empty gym.  He matches her angry gaze.  “You’re an idiot if you think this will last after high school.  A girl like this won’t put up with your shit when you no longer have your money.”

“Say what you want about me, but keep her name out of your mouth,” Nicole snaps.  She turns on her heel and heads back to the bleachers.  All she wants to do now is check in Waverly.  She gently lays a hand on Waverly’s shoulder and leans down to look her in the eye.  “Are you ok, baby?”

“Nicole,” her dad says again, louder this time so there isn’t any confusion, “Her or us.  Your choice.”

Nicole’s eyes dart to her father again, anger now consuming her.  She feels Waverly’s hand slide into hers and it’s the only thing that grounds her from completely losing her cool.  She squeezes Waverly’s hand before looking back at her.

“Waves,” she says slowly, softly as she leans down and presses her knees against the bleachers for balance, “I don’t want to be without you.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Waverly reassures.

“Waverly Earp,” Nicole says, “I love you so much.  You’re so kind and thoughtful and supportive and smart.  You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.  I’m going to spend my entire life picking you.  If you’ll let me.”

“I’ve got you, baby,” Waverly replies.

Nicole nods and stands up again.  Her father stands there almost too confident that his ultimatum will work in his favor.  She clambers down to the floor and stomps over to him.

She says, “I’m not breaking up with Waverly.  Doesn’t matter what you threaten me with, I’m not doing it.”

“Fine then,” he says, voice firm and threatening, “You’re no longer welcome in our home.  Come get your things.  The locks will be changed next week.”

With that, he turns on his heels and storms out of the gym.

Nicole sighs loudly, looking straight up at the ceiling.  Of course this scene was built with the cheerleaders as witness, seeing just a glimpse of her parents’ true colors.  What they don’t know is that she’s been told her entire life to stay away from people like Waverly’s family.  That they do nothing but bring people like her down.  She avoided them at first on principle.  But when she decided to be rebellious it brought her closer to the Earps in one way or the other.  Seeing the world through Waverly’s eyes has changed her way of thinking.

Just then, Nicole feels arms circle her waist and a head lean into her shoulder.  As if on autopilot, Nicole lifts her arm and wraps it around Waverly’s shoulders.  Her other arm quickly joins in on the movement as she looks down and places her lips against Waverly’s forehead.  She lets her kiss linger as Waverly just fills up her embrace.  After a few moments of letting her emotions take over her and trying to keep the tears at bay, she loosens her grasp on Waverly to look at her fully.

“Are you ok?” Nicole asks.

“Am I ok?  Jesus, Nicole, are you ok?” Waverly turns it around on her, running hands up her sides and across her shoulders and arms until they come to a stop on her hands.  Nicole instinctively entwines their fingers and follows Waverly as she says, “Come here.”

They sit on the bleachers with Waverly clutching her tightly.  They have a lot to talk about and urgently, but Nicole doesn’t really have it in her to speak about it now.  Maybe not even tonight at all.  Waverly’s hands stay on her, gripping her arm tightly even after both teams make their way to the court.  No one else even mentions what they were witness to.

Within 5 minutes of the game starting, Nicole makes her way over to the bench and takes a seat at the end of it.  She peels off her jacket and drapes it over the back of her chair.  Her sleeves are rolled up to her elbow, with a little bit of help because she couldn’t do it alone.

The games drag on.  Especially because she’s having to put up a front about the conversation with her father that echoed throughout the gym earlier.  Waverly checks on her every chance she gets.  Her heart swells at how thoughtful she is.  A few girls from the other team come up to her to chat, including a few who were staring at them before the game.  In a life before Waverly, she remembers flirting with these girls pretty hard but never really going through with anything.

She does, however, spend a good portion of time between games exchanging kisses with Waverly and chatting absently about whatever comes to mind.  If Waverly is jealous or concerned, she doesn’t show it.  The ring that Nicole is wearing does manage to thwart off the flirtatious behavior she used to frequently receive from the girls on the other team.  When she sees their eyes lingering, part of her wishes she could say that Waverly is her wife or at least her fiancée.

Before the boys’ game is even over they dip out of the gym and head back to her car.  She’s wondering if there’s ever a point that Waverly will get into trouble for leaving games early, especially as the head cheerleader, but at the same time Waverly has expressed that she doesn’t care what happens because graduation is soon.  They make their way to Waverly’s house and all of the lights are off in the windows, confirming what they had expected that Gus and Curtis would be asleep when they got back from the game.

They silently climb the stairs to Waverly’s room and close the door before either of them emit any noise on purpose.  Nicole releases a heavy hearted sigh while falling back onto Waverly’s bed.  Waverly climbs up her body and onto the bed, curling into her side.  She feels Waverly’s fingers spread against her stomach, a sweet gesture that makes butterflies swarm around in her belly.

“Hey,” Nicole says softly, turning her head to come face to face with Waverly, “Have I told you lately how wonderful you are?”

“Nicole,” she says just as softly.  She feels Waverly’s fingers trail up her sternum, over her breasts, and come to frame her face.  She forces Nicole to make constant eye contact with her. “You’re an amazing person and I’m so lucky to be with you, baby.  Do you get that?”

“I’m trying my best,” Nicole replies.

“Well,” Waverly says, offering her a wide grin as she crawls up onto Nicole’s stomach and mounts her, “You’re doing a damn good job.”

“I made you love me,” Nicole says.  She smirks.  She reaches for both of Waverly’s hands and clasps them the best she can with an injured finger.

“Yes,” Waverly says, “I love you with my whole entire heart.”

Waverly leans down slowly to kiss her and it’s pointed when their lips touch, a convergence of love and desire like it’s a promise to a tomorrow that she’s dreaming about.  They stay quiet so as not to wake Waverly’s guardians and they make love quieter than they ever have.  Nicole feels tears in her eyes that linger until after they’re both dressed in sleeping clothes and molded together in Waverly’s bed.

Waverly falls asleep first but the sound of her at peace quickly lulls Nicole there too.

|

She wakes later than what she normally gets up on Saturdays for her run.  Waverly is no longer beside her and the bed is fairly cold.  Nicole feels exhausted despite sleeping a commendable number of hours.  When she glances at her phone, it’s nearly dead and announcing that it’s already after 10.

That’s when she hears raised voices downstairs that quite honestly leave her a little uncomfortable.  She quickly gets dressed in a pair of jeans but leaves the t-shirt she wore to sleep on.  She slips on her boots but doesn’t exactly bother with tying them.  She knew this was a bad idea.  And that feeling only increases when she hears Waverly yelling louder which is, quite frankly, terrifying yet incredibly hot.

She descends the stairs, feet echoing louder than it would at her own house.  All eyes in the house are on her, watching her closely.  Part of her wants to save Waverly, but she doesn’t really know Gus or Curtis all that well.

“Nicole,” Gus greets, not unkindly but not exactly warm either, “Please, have a seat.”

Nicole nods and sits down beside Waverly on the couch, looking a hell of a lot more rigid than Waverly is.  She’s taking this much better than Nicole could have expected.  She clamps her mouth shut, squirming slightly under Gus’ gaze.

“I just don’t get what the big deal is,” Waverly says again, “I’ve been spending every weekend at her house.  With your permission.  Why can’t she just stay here with us for a while?”

“It isn’t that simple, Waverly,” Curtis says.  Nicole watches as Gus looks at him with such respect while he’s speaking and she instantly knows this is way better than anything she’s ever lived with.  He sighs, obviously heavy hearted and overwhelmed with his thoughts.  “She isn’t our kid.”

“She’s eighteen,” Waverly argues, “She doesn’t have a legal guardian anymore.  If we can just give her a nice place to stay until something else comes along...”

“I know you care about her,” Gus says slowly, “But I just don’t want anyone to make any rash decisions.”

“Can I say something?” Nicole interrupts.  Gus and Curtis both look at her kindly, like whatever she has to say is important.  She releases a heavy breath from her lungs before speaking.  “We should have asked you if I could stay in your house.”

“Nicole, honey, we don’t care that you stayed in our house.  And, to be quite frank, we have very little issue about you staying in Waverly’s bedroom.  We aren’t stupid.  We know you play house on the weekends.  We know you’re a couple.  We were just...surprised by your being here.”

“Her dad kicked her out,” Waverly says quietly.  They both look surprised like they are hearing this information for the first time.  Nicole feels embarrassed hearing it out loud.

“We’ve been fighting all week,” Nicole admits, “And he showed up at the school yesterday to say his piece on the matter.  They just aren’t good people.”

“It’s just a few months.  Why not just stick it out?”

“The things he was saying about, um,” Nicole hesitates there, not wanting to repeat them.  Clearly they haven’t bothered Waverly too much, but thinking about it gets her angry all over again.  “They want me to break up with Waverly and I won’t do it.  She’s an extraordinary person.”

“They want you to break up with Waverly?” Curtis says, defensive.

“They’re just stupid elitists,” Nicole says with a sigh.  They all sit in silence for a moment.  Waverly reaches over to cover her hand and squeezes it tightly.  “If you aren’t into the idea of me staying here then that’s really ok.  I know it’s a lot.”

“Let us discuss it,” Gus says.

Nicole and Waverly get up from the couch and return to Waverly’s room.

“Why do you look like you’re ready to run?” Waverly asks.  She sits down on the bed and looks almost scared, dejected at the sight of Nicole.  It breaks her heart.

“No, baby, no,” Nicole says.  She lowers down onto her knees and wraps a hand around Waverly’s hand.  She looks up at her through her eyelashes and says, “I’m not running from you.  I’m just...I’m scared, ok?  I don’t want to leave you at all.  It’s the last thing I want.  But it isn’t up to me.”

“You’re not going anywhere without me,” Waverly says decisively.  Nicole watches as her stubborn, tiny girlfriend stands up from the bed and charges over to her closet.  Nicole is confused, quietly continuing to watch as Waverly changes into a pair of jeans and a crop top before packing a bag of her own.  She turns once she’s done and places her hands on her hips.  “Ok, I’m ready.”

Nicole immediately bursts into laughter, leaning her back against the side of the bed and sitting on the floor.  Her legs are parted and she’s trying to balance herself when she feels a weight press into her chest.  She quickly wraps her arms around Waverly’s waist and holds her close.  They lean in, laughter meeting in the space between them.

“Baby, I wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without you,” Nicole whispers.  She reaches for Waverly’s left hand with her good hand and lifts it in the space between them.  She lets her thumb trail over the ring on her finger before she looks back at Waverly.  She says, “I gave you this ring because I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  I’m all yours.”

Waverly wraps her fingers around Nicole’s and squeezes, pulling the hand to her mouth.  Waverly places a kiss against her knuckles and sighs.  She says, “All mine.”

They kiss casually until Gus calls them back downstairs.  They resume their seats on the couch like they’re about to get scolded.  Waverly’s grabbing her hand and holding it tightly before anything else can be said.

“We need to lay some ground rules,” Gus starts.

They mention the fact that they’ll be feeding an extra mouth and how they’ll need a little more help around the house.  They have to do the dishes after every family meal.  One of them needs to get a job, which Waverly is already going to pick up a few shifts at Shorty’s.  But the most important ground rule is that they have to communicate their grades and if their grades start to slip, they’ll be separated.  
  
The grades are going to be locked and loaded.


	14. Key

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to face the music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a short chapter out here today. I hope you enjoy. I would really appreciate the feedback. Thank you.

**_Quarter 1._ **

_March._

Nicole lies awake for nearly an hour so as not to disturb Waverly sleeping in her arms before she actually stirs awake. When Waverly does finally move, it’s to press light kisses to Nicole’s neck and collarbone while pressing her body more against Nicole’s. She feels Waverly shiver against her which prompts her to hold Waverly tighter.

“I can’t believe I get to wake up like this every day,” Waverly murmurs sleepily.

“You’re going to get so tired of me,” Nicole replies.

She can’t help smiling at the feeling of Waverly’s hand sweeping over her stomach but otherwise settling into her side. Nicole thinks of how well they fit together. Waverly’s body molds against hers like the crevices that needed to be filled finally feels complete, and she feels secure in the idea that it won’t be taken away.

Waverly hums. She says, “It’s so much warmer sleeping with you.”

“Oh yeah? Is that all you want me for?” Nicole teases.

Waverly places another kiss against her jaw and it makes her tilt her head upward. She savors Waverly’s warm breath against her skin despite the kisses being lazy and chaste. Waverly grasps her shirt in her hand, pulling the material flush against her.

“It’s just a bonus,” Waverly finally says. She feels Waverly snuggle further into her as if it were possible. Waverly sighs happily against her throat which makes her skin sticky. “You don’t have to go home.”

“Cause I am home,” Nicole says with a smile.

“You are home,” Waverly repeats.

They fall back into silence, laying there in Waverly’s full size bed closer together than they’ve ever been. She feels warm and welcome and a little more at ease than she expected to feel after such an event as huge as this. They fit together easily so it’s possible that they’ll manage being together all day, every day. They’ve really only had one big fight and the subject of that one was about the possibility of them not being together. She laughs suddenly, the noise bubbling out of her and interrupting their simple, comfortable silence.

“What’s so funny?” Waverly asks, sounding both confused and accusatory.

“Us,” Nicole replies, squeezing Waverly tighter, “Everything is perfect. We’re perfect. Even our stupid fight was all about how we don’t want to lose each other.”

“You gave up everything for me,” Waverly says softly. She feels Waverly’s palm dig into her stomach as she sits up to look down at Nicole. Her hand is left floundering against Waverly’s hip as she moves to get more comfortable. “To be with me.”

“What I get by being with you is so much more than anything I had,” Nicole insists. She pushes up onto her elbows, closing the distance between them. She places a gentle kiss against Waverly’s mouth and pulls back with a grin. “We should get up. We have so much to do today.”

“Ugh,” Waverly grunts, “I already miss staying in bed all day with you.”

“Yeah, well, we live together now,” Nicole argues, grinning more, “We have all these responsibilities that adult people have.”

“We’re practically adults,” Waverly says, almost squeeing.

“It’s all practice for when we have a place of our own,” Nicole agrees. She can’t help but be excited by Waverly’s adorable face. She’s almost smiling bigger than Nicole has ever seen before. “You’re adorable.”

“Cutest couple,” Waverly says with a playful smirk. Nicole laughs quietly in response. Waverly squeezes her middle. “Can’t we just be lazy today?”

“I don’t think that’s a good start to this thing with your aunt and uncle,” Nicole replies.

“What happened to my rebellious baby?” Waverly says.

“Ha Ha,” Nicole says.

They lounge together for a few more minutes, legs entwined and bodies warm. During this time they speak casually about their to-do list for the day. They have to dedicate a couple of hours to homework and Nicole wants to make Gus and Curtis dinner which will mostly default to Waverly since she doesn’t really know how to cook. Waverly laughs occasionally at something she says and the sound is beautiful.

Begrudgingly, they both get out of the bed. Nicole mentions something about going for a run later in the afternoon so Waverly elects to take a quick shower. During this time, Nicole starts going through her bag and putting things away in areas that Waverly made space for her. She’d made some space in her closet and a little in her drawer, but she has more clothes than Nicole even realized. She even catches herself going through particular articles of clothing and pictures Waverly wearing them.

Only half of the articles of clothing she’s brought over, which really isn’t a lot, are put away when Waverly is out of the bathroom and back in the bedroom. Nicole makes a mental note to go over to her parents house tomorrow after school and practice to get some more of her things before they change the locks. Waverly has a shift at Shorty’s after cheer practice anyway so she’s kind of left to her own devices. She doesn’t even have a key for Gus and Curtis’ yet.

Waverly smiles widely when they make eye contact and throws her arms up in the air. Nicole’s only half in the moment when Waverly wraps those loving arms around her neck to pull her close. She smells Waverly’s peppermint scented breath and becomes acutely aware that she hasn’t brushed her teeth yet. She gives a chaste kiss in return.

“Let me go brush my teeth,” she explains quickly so as not to hurt Waverly’s feelings.

She rushes to the upstairs bathroom still littered with Wynonna’s remnants and brushes her teeth. She takes a quick look around and tries to become familiar with her new normal. She hasn’t spent an abundant amount of time at the McCready house, not like Waverly had spent at hers, but the place has a little bit of room for her.

She quickly brushes her teeth and returns to Waverly’s bedroom where Waverly appears to be all set for the day. She quickly realizes she’s behind in the getting ready process so she returns to her duffel bag for a pair of jeans. Nicole quickly changes as Waverly applies a little bit of make up to her face. They’ve done this all before, the getting ready for their day together like a domestic couple. Nicole finds herself smiling as she pulls on her pants.

“What?” Waverly presses, a teasing tone slipping into her voice.

“Nothing,” Nicole replies. She stands upright and moves across the room. The t-shirt she has on is a size too big but she’s low on clothes so she plans on wearing it all day. She leans down and places a kiss against Waverly’s cheek. “Just happy, baby.”

|

News travels fast in this town.

By the time they make it to lunch, Nicole is pretty sure everyone knows she’s spent the weekend at Waverly’s house rather than the other way around. Midterms are coming up so she does everything she can not to become distracted during classes, but her broken finger still hinders her from taking decent notes. After practice is over, her and Waverly go their separate ways. It felt weird leaving this morning in two separate vehicles, but Nicole needs to swing by her parents and Waverly has a shift at Shorty’s.

They say goodbye between their cars, next to Waverly’s driver side. She’s surprised at the fact that she’s sad to part ways with Waverly for even a few hours after spending nearly 72 hours with her without a break. Waverly twists the ring on Nicole’s finger, reminding Nicole again and again that it’s there and what it represents.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Nicole asks, sensing Waverly’s nerves. Waverly hasn’t realized it yet but when she’s feeling anxious she plays with the ring on Nicole’s finger, the one she gave her on Valentine’s Day promising to be Nicole’s. Slowly, Nicole peels her hand from Waverly’s grasp and uses it to tuck the hair behind Waverly’s ear. “Talk to me.”

“I’m just,”Waverly starts, reaching for Nicole’s hand again, “I’m worried about you. I wish I could go with you.”

“I’ll be fine, baby,” Nicole replies. She’s tried to be strong for Waverly, but she’s a little scared to face her parents. What if they don’t let her in? What if they don’t let her leave? “I’m just going to go over there, get some of my things, and then I’ll immediately come see you.”

“You should go home after,” Waverly says with a sadness in her voice.

“I’ll need to see you,” Nicole insists. She hooks her fingers around Waverly’s, immediately lifting her hand to her mouth and placing a kiss against Waverly’s knuckles. She shies away for a moment, looking away from Nicole and letting her gaze fall to their hands. “Is that okay?”

“Yes, baby,” Waverly murmurs in response, “I’ll feel a lot better.”

“It’s settled then,” Nicole says decisively. She grins and Waverly seems to relax the slightest bit at the announcement. Nicole quickly kisses her and she responds against her mouth. When they pull apart, Nicole rests her forehead against Waverly’s. “You don’t want to be late.”

With a sigh, Nicole reaches around Waverly and opens the door to the Jeep. As Waverly turns, Nicole taps her lately on the ass. Waverly climbs into the driver side and gives Nicole another chaste kiss before taking off in the car. Nicole watches the Jeep turn out of the parking lot before climbing into her own vehicle.

With an ache in her chest, Nicole starts her rover and starts driving towards her parents house. She doesn’t know what to prepare herself for. She doesn’t know if her key is going to work when gets there, if her parents will be there, what’s important for her to grab. She’s done her best not to think about any of those things since her dad told her not to come back.

Pulling into the driveway of the familiar house, she feels her chest tighten. She sucks in a deep breath to calm herself before shutting off her car to head into the house. She tests her key in the lock and it still t works, so she immediately runs up the stairs to her bedroom.

She grabs an extra duffel bag and packs away a bunch of her clothes. She then runs downstairs with the bag and puts it into the back of her vehicle before grabbing the boxes Waverly made her bring. She heads back up the stairs, stuffing away items that she uses regularly - her Apple TV, her PlayStation, her laptop, and her shoes. She grabs some more clothes to really cushion her things, and balances the box with her good hand. She stores it away into the back of her car and goes back up to get the last box. She throws some of her clothes from her closet on top and goes back down the stairs. She almost gets away scotfree when she hears a voice.

“This is ridiculous, Nicole,” her mother says, “Your father is handling this now. You’ll be back before you know it.”

“What?” Nicole feels the confusion tense up her shoulders.

“He’s paying them off as we speak,” her mother explains.

Nicole laughs, shaking her head as her finger starts to ache from the weight of the box. She says, “You never listen to anything that I say. Just remember, you did this.”

She leaves quickly so she doesn’t have to hear anything else that her mother has to say. She pushes the box back into the car and closes the back with her left hand, shaking out her right hand. It does nothing to dull the ache in her hand and she climbs back into the car without a second glance at the front door.

She drives over to Shorty’s and spots Waverly’s Jeep in the parking lot. She parks next to it but doesn’t get out yet. She checks the time and notes that she was only at her parents for about 45 minutes, meaning Waverly has been at work for half an hour.

She has a missed text from Waverly checking to see if everything is ok. The text was from right before she went to work and she hasn’t heard from Waverly since. What if she walks in there and Waverly has taken the bait then she has to go back to her parents, crawling on hands and knees? She’s sure Waverly wouldn’t do that, she trusts her, but deep down her parents have instilled within her that she could truly never matter.

Nicole finally turns her car off and heads inside. Looking around, she doesn’t immediately see Waverly. She sees Gus at the bar, and debates whether she should sit there or not. Gus looks frustrated, the lines on her face tight. After hesitating for a few seconds, she decides to sit. The moment she does, Gus’ face upturns into something less angry. Nicole releases a breath.

“Hi, Misses McCready,” she greets. She tries to sound upbeat, but she’s pretty sure there are tears in her eyes that give her away.

Gus stops what she’s doing and reaches out to cover Nicole’s hand on the countertop. She says, “Gus is fine, Nicole, and we’re here for you.”

“Thanks,” Nicole replies.

“Waverly’s in the back,” Gus says, hooking her thumb behind her indicate to the double doors, “She’s been a mess worrying about you.”

“Thanks,” Nicole says, softly. She offers a smile that doesn’t quite touch her eyes. She slides off of the bar stool and heads to the back where Waverly looks a little frantic. She’s moving bottles around, getting rid of unnecessary boxes, but she looks to be in a panic mode. “Waves?”

“Oh my god,” Waverly nearly screams, jumping in her place. She turns quickly and throws her arms around Nicole’s waist.

The strength Waverly uses nearly knocks her over but she manages to keep her balance. Wrapping her arms around Waverly’s shoulders in a return hug, Nicole breathes easier. So much easier than the tears begin to fall from her eyes. She feels her shirt getting wet at her chest and she instantly shapes up, ignoring her own tears to prioritize Waverly’s.

“Are you ok, baby?” She whispers.

“I’m so sorry,” Waverly says.

“Sorry?” Nicole’s heart beats faster, “Why are you sorry?”

She couldn’t have...?

“Because,” Waverly says, “I’m crying and you’re the one who just had to do something totally insane.”

“Oh,” Nicole replies, releasing a breath, “It’s ok that you’re crying.”

Waverly snuggles into her a little more, squeezing her waist tighter. Nicole almost can’t breathe but she grins and bares it through the tears. She doesn’t know who is feeling the tears more: Waverly or herself. She waits a few minutes until Waverly stops crying. She pulls back with her mascara staining her cheeks.

“It’s okay, baby. I got you,” Nicole says. She pushes her aching hand through Waverly’s hair and offers her a watery smile. She sighs and says, “Are you going to be ok?”

“Yeah,” Waverly says with a light shake of her head, “I was just worried about you. Then your dad showed up and it all just...it was a lot.”

“I know, I’m sorry he did that,” Nicole replies, “But they’re out of our lives now.”

“Are you ok?” Waverly asks.

“It’s all a lot right now but I will be fine. Do you know why?” Nicole asks. She stares at Waverly awaiting an answer. Waverly says nothing. Waverly’s hands are pressed against Nicole’s ribs, touching her in a way that only encourages to continue. “I have you. It’ll all work out.”

“Listen to you,” Waverly coos, squeezing her at the ribs, “Now you sound like me.”

“You rubbed off on me,” Nicole says with a smirk. Waverly smiles in return, leaning in to lightly place a kiss against the corner of Nicole’s mouth. The tears still want to fall, but she figures she will wait it out until she’s alone or transfer that energy somewhere else. She says, “You should probably get to work, baby. Bring home the bacon.”

Waverly shoots her a look at the word choice. Waverly has been trying to eat vegan. She’s been quite successful at it considering, but no one else has hopped aboard that train with her. Nicole loves meat too much. She shrugs quickly in response.

“You’re probably right,” Waverly begrudgingly agrees, “Are you going to hang around for a bit? I can get you something to eat.”

“A plate of those bacon cheese fries sound amazing,” Nicole says.

She starts laughing as Waverly pushes her out of the room with a playful slap on her arm. Waverly’s hands leave her hips as she crosses the threshold into the bar. Immediately missing the contact, Nicole glances behind her just in time to see Waverly veer left to head into the kitchen.

Nicole returns to that empty seat at the bar and takes up residence. They still haven’t talked about Nicole’s dad showing up, about what he said to Waverly. Nicole still worries in the back of her mind that the worst is yet to come, that Waverly still has some news to break to her. She doesn’t bring it up. She just waits for Waverly to bring it up. Talking about it at Waverly’s work probably isn’t the fairest thing to her anyway.

Nicole eats her bacon cheese fries. She hangs out at the counter until Gus and Waverly convince her to head home. Waverly hands over her key to the house and Nicole lounges in Waverly’s bedroom until she arrives home from work. Nicole is still dealing with an aching finger so she left the boxes in the car but brought in the duffel bag and a good portion of her clothes. She’s already run out of room to put them anyway.

When Waverly gets home, they don’t talk much. Her girlfriend seems exhausted. All she wants to do is crawl into bed. So Nicole makes room and lets Waverly curl up beside her, holding her tightly until she falls asleep.


	15. Assist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missing that final game kind of hurts a little bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week has been wild. That being said, last week was also wild. So I'm late in updating but hopefully you do enjoy this update.

The last game of her regular season as a high schooler and she still has to sit out because of this annoying broken finger. The broken finger has been in the way for a lot of things and she’s becoming increasingly frustrated. After moving her things on Monday, she had to give her hand a rest because it was hurting more. She tried to hide the pain, especially because Waverly was exhausted enough to go right to sleep when she got home from working at Shorty’s, but they woke up in the middle of the night and Waverly caught her hiding the pain. She had gone to retrieve some ibuprofen and some water before Nicole could protest.

It felt great being taken care of, but it didn’t feel great not being able to touch her girlfriend how she wanted. As much as she has tried to learn control with her left hand, she’s still fairly useless especially when it came to matters of expressing her heart. It’s making her feel desperate and fairly clingy.

Waverly has taken it in stride, maybe even returned the sentiment if not just slightly than more so. Nicole drives them to school instead of them both wasting gas. The rest of her team has already arrived and is in the locker room, changing for the game, most likely. Nicole’s been trying to put on a brave face, but everything is starting to weigh pretty heavily on her.

She sighs loudly, all kinds of frustrated, but still they go into the gym without her managing to open up about any of the feelings she’s been burying over the last week. She really doesn’t have any intentions of weighing Waverly down too, of telling her what’s been going through her mind. Not to mention, she feels like a pretty shitty girlfriend since she moved in with Waverly and her family.

All of this relying on another person really has her out of sorts. Sure, it isn’t abnormal for her to rely on Waverly, but there has still been a sense of her having some independence and self-reliance. It’s all knocked her for a loop and, knowing the type of person Waverly is, she just hasn’t been able to tell yet or else she would have said something.

“I’m sorry you can’t play in your last high school game,” Waverly says, putting her phone away. Nicole looks over at her as she finds a parking spot a few rows back, still early but not early enough for a front row spot. Nicole shrugs there, turning her eyes back to the road. “It’s okay to be upset.”

“I’m not upset,” Nicole immediately replies. It’s a lie, one that, when she glances at Waverly, isn’t very convincing. She sighs again, almost too embarrassed to let herself be weak. “Okay, I’m a little upset. But there will be more games.”

“Don’t do that,” Waverly says in a firm tone.

“Do what?”

“Pretend like your feelings don’t matter. You’ve been doing it all week,” Waverly says. Nicole is caught a little off guard by Waverly’s tone, sure and firm like Nicole can’t even deny it. Although true, she still wants to save face. “You’re allowed to be upset.”

Nicole puts the car into park and looks over at Waverly. The tears that have been threatening to fall over the last week return to her eyes and Waverly just gives her a look that nearly makes her lose it. A tear slips down her cheek. She doesn’t even know why she’s crying.

“I’m fine,” Nicole says, voice betraying her, “I’m just frustrated. That’s all.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says, giving away that she really isn’t going to let this slide.

“Everything was just really good and ever since I broke my stupid finger, it’s all gone downhill                                                                                                    ,” Nicole huffs out. Leaning into the corner of her seat against the window, Nicole chances a look at Waverly. Finally, she gives Waverly a dramatic pout. “And it still hurts but I can’t miss any games of the tournament. Too much depends on me playing.”

“Okay, well, let it heal for the next week then we’ll see how it feels for the tournament game,” Waverly replies. She reaches over and grasps Nicole’s injured hand, pulling it over into her lap. Nicole is stretched about as far as she can go and it’s a little uncomfortable, so she moves her upper body closer to the center console as Waverly examines her hand closer. “Just take it easy, ok, baby?”

“I have been,” Nicole whines. She huffs again and Waverly kisses her palm. The gentle way Waverly is holding her hand close to her mouth makes the tears come to her eyes again. “I feel like I’m just such a shitty girlfriend.”

“What?” Waverly says, loudly, against Nicole’s skin. Her breath is warm but her shock of the statement seems to make her twist Nicole’s hand in a way that causes pain. Nicole tries working the hand free from Waverly’s clutches as slowly as possible.

“I’ve just been relying on you so much and I can’t give you anything in return,” Nicole huffs. She leans back again, putting distance between them. Waverly subtly follows her movements, elbows leaning against the center console. Her eyes seem to plead with Nicole to open up to her more, but she doesn’t know that there’s anything else to say. “It just sucks. I suck.”

“You don’t suck,” Waverly quickly denies, “You’re the best. Everything is just crazy right now. It’ll all settle down soon.”

“I wish I could believe you,” Nicole mutters.

“Your parents are assholes to make you think I couldn’t love you because of the way you make me feel,” Waverly says softly. She feels Waverly’s hands on her arms, comfortingly sliding all of the way up until one hand is sweeping her hair out of her face. Nicole finally looks into Waverly’s face, barely making out her features through blurred vision. “You give me love. I don’t need anything else from you.”

Nicole stares at her for a very long time, blinking to clear her vision again. Waverly is smiling, although it’s a bit sadly. It still makes Nicole feel a little better. She says, “One day, I’m going to buy you a big house and we won’t want for anything. I promise you.”

“I’d be happy with you even if you didn’t,” Waverly replies. She squeezes Nicole’s arm as she pulls her closer by the back of the neck. Waverly kisses her gently at first, but a switch flips inside of Nicole that makes her kiss Waverly harder. Just as she places her left hand against Waverly’s jaw, there’s a knock in the window. “Shit!”

Waverly is breathless as she pulls away, scared and panicked. Nicole has to stifle a laugh. She leans forward to look around Waverly and Chrissy is motioning them to hurry up out of the car. Nicole sighs but ultimately turns off the car. Waverly pops the passenger door open.

“Can’t you guys suck face at home?” Chrissy asks. She’s teasing, Nicole can tell by the grin on her face. She’s been teasing them all week about ‘shacking up’ together already, even though she was present when Nicole’s dad made an ass of himself. “The game starts in like ten minutes and Coach Lucado is coming for you.”

“Me?” Nicole says, closing her door and making her why to the back of the car, “I can’t even play.”

“Yeah but she’s still expecting her star player to make an appearance. Just go out there and throw a couple balls around,” Chrissy says with a shrug.

Nicole is half a step behind Waverly and Chrissy. She doesn’t even get why they’re in such a hurry. She says, “That would be embarrassing. I can’t use my left hand for shit.”

“I don’t know what it is you ball players do, Haught. Just strut your stuff,” Chrissy replies.

Nicole fakes a laugh as they enter the gym. She doesn’t even get a chance to tell Waverly bye as she locks eyes with Coach Lucado. She quickly makes her way over to the bench where she prepares to sit for the next hour and a half. The game feels longer than the other games she’s sat through. She doesn’t exactly know what is, but it’s probably because it’s her last possible regular season game as a high school senior and she doesn’t even get to play.

As soon as the game is over, she follows her team to the locker room for the post game speech her coach always gives. There’s not a lot of room for improvement at this point in the season, so she mentions a lot of practicing hard for the next week then congratulates the team on a great game. The team really did great, considering they were without their best player.

She goes back to the gym and takes a seat on the bleachers. The cheerleaders aren’t on the floor so Nicole assumes they’re having a pow wow in a hallway somewhere. She doesn’t entirely know what the cheerleaders do when they aren’t cheering. If she had to guess she would say they probably gossip about things.

She’s sitting on the bleachers for a good 5 minutes before Waverly comes out and finds her. Waverly leans against her side and grabs her hand, sliding their hands together until she entwines their fingers together. She leans towards Nicole’s ear and murmurs into it, “Hey, baby.”

There’s something incredibly sexy about the way Waverly husks it into her ear. Shooting Chrissy a playful glare, Nicole turns her face towards Waverly and straightens so they’re level. She places a kiss against Waverly’s mouth but doesn’t deepen it, knowing that a lot of people in the gym are probably watching them. Or, more specifically, her. Not that she has anything to hide. Honestly, the kiss in the car kind of got her amped up a little.

“Hey,” Nicole whispers, “You looked sexy out there doing those kicks. I really didn’t know the show I was missing out on until I spent all this time on the bench.”

Waverly blushes but says, “At least one good thing came out of this broken finger.”

Whistles erupt throughout the gym to indicate that boys game is starting. Waverly paints a pretty smile on her face and presses a kiss against Nicole’s cheek before trampling down the bleachers to join her squad at the sidelines. She tosses Nicole another smile before picking up those poms and leading the squad to their opening cheer.

She rests back against the bleacher behind her, the metal digging into her back a little too hard to ignore for that long. The players from the girls game start meandering out of the locker rooms. For the most part, her team shuffles past her to head to the concession stand for a snack. With them being younger than her they usually go into their friend groups while she hangs out by herself after games.

It’s about 4 minutes into the quarter when she feels someone sit beside her. Her eyebrows immediately furrow in confusion, wondering why someone would sit so close to her when she can clearly hear Waverly cheering from the stands. She does her best to brace herself for a rude awakening.

“Broken finger...big yikes,” the female voice says.

Nicole’s looking at her finger before properly sparing the stranger a glance. She attempts to move her fingers, rolling her hand into a fist but failing. She huffs as she gives up, finally looking at the person beside her.

“Oh shit,” Nicole says. She recognizes the opponent as someone from basketball camp for the last few years. Her name is Natalie. She has brown hair and skin a little tan, definitely darker than Nicole’s pale skin. “I thought I was crazy.”

“Well,” Natalie teases. Her smile is bright. Nicole laughs into the back of her throat. She feels a hand against her left forearm. Looking over at her, Natalie says, “I’m just kidding. Man, I was really hoping to crush you today. I heard you were down for the count, but I didn’t want to believe it.”

“Oh, this is the last game I’m missing,” Nicole replies decisively. She still feels the hand on her arm so she tries to move it a little, outside of Natalie’s touch. Instead, the hand presses against her leg for a brief moment, until Nicole clears her throat. “Don’t worry though, getting better with that left hand.”

“Yeah right,” Natalie says, laughing.

“Better believe it,” Nicole smirks, motioning shooting with her left hand. Natalie quickly grabs Nicole’s arm and pulls it into her lap.

“What’s this?” Natalie asks, fingers starting to twist the ring on her finger.

“That,” Nicole says sharply, prying her hand out of Natalie’s grasp to push the ring firmly back on her finger, “Would be from my girlfriend.”

“Oh, you have a girlfriend?” Natalie says, holding her hands up in front of her chest to feign innocence.

“Yep.”

“Sounds pretty serious,” Natalie says. Her eyebrows pop up on her forehead in disbelief, like she doesn’t think the old Nicole could change her ways. Granted, she doesn’t exactly blame Natalie. She’s always had a girlfriend while at basketball camp, but that hadn’t necessarily stopped her from making a few straight girls realize they aren’t actually straight. “We’ll see if it’ll stick. So, where is she?”

“You see that gorgeous, flexible cheerleader over there?” Nicole says, pointing at Waverly. Natalie’s gaze follows Nicole’s finger just in time for Waverly to do a super high kick that flashes her spanks to anyone paying attention to her. Nicole’s pretty sure there’s a few dudes salivating right about now.

“Is that the future Misses Nicole Haught?” Natalie asks, leaning forward to get a closer look.

Nicole glances at the scoreboard to see the time left on the clock. There’s still a minute left of the first quarter. She glances back at Waverly who locks eyes with her immediately and gives her a saucy wink. She waves at Waverly, smiling and sitting straighter.

“If she’ll have me,” Nicole says. She expels a breath at the realization that she’s ready to give Waverly a real proposal. They’ve only been living together for a few days, but the plan is until they go to college and she really doesn’t think she will be able to stop living with Waverly when they go off to college.

“You’re about to be a hot shot basketball star and you want to lock yourself up?” Natalie laughs, “Just when I’ve decided to give you a chance.”

She lets out a nervous chuckle. The buzzer sounds off and the cheerleaders get to take their bathroom breaks. Waverly makes her way over but doesn’t say anything at first, just drops down onto an empty spot in the bleachers in front of Nicole. Making a sound of objection, Nicole reaches down and taps at Waverly’s shoulder until she turns around. Nicole motions for her to come closer.

Seeing Waverly put her phone down to move closer, Nicole’s eyebrows furrow. Waverly’s phone lights up on the bleachers beside Nicole’s feet and it only invites more curiosity. She’s quickly distracted when Waverly places a hand on either one of her forearms and leans closer, placing a smile against Nicole’s lips.

“How ya feeling, baby?” Waverly whispers against her mouth.

“You know,” Nicole says with a shrug, “A little better.”

“Good,” Waverly says. She kisses Nicole softly again and steps back. She keeps hanging on though, not quite letting Nicole go. “I don’t want you to worry.”

“Everything’s great, baby,” Nicole insists.

“We’ll talk about it at home,” Waverly says, “Will you hang on to my phone? Wynonna won’t stop blowing it up and it’s distracting.”

“Sure thing, baby,” Nicole says.

Waverly smiles widely as a thank you and releases Nicole’s arms. She watches her girlfriend walk away before reaching down for the phone by her feet. Burying it into her pocket with her own phone, she sighs dejected. She doesn’t think she needs to talk about anything. She got it all out in the car.

“Hey, I’m gonna go grab a water,” Nicole tells Natalie.

She hops down from the bleachers and heads to the concession stand. She quickly pays for a water in cash and returns to the bleachers, waiting out the second quarter with Natalie. Natalie chats idly about current professional basketball match ups coming later on in the week. She’s grateful when the quarter ends and they’re that much closer to getting to go home. By this time, Natalie has wandered over to her own team and has left her alone.

After the cheerleaders halftime routine, Waverly makes her way over. Nicole hands her the bottle of water and asks if she would like her phone back. It’s been vibrating wildly in her pocket but has stopped in the last 10 minutes. Waverly shakes her head and pulls Nicole’s arms around her. They sit like that until Waverly has to return to her post.

By the end of the third quarter, Natalie has come back to sit beside her. Nicole is beginning to think that her friend from basketball camp is flirting with her. She’s always been touchy, but now Nicole is just more aware of it in a way that she never ways before Waverly. She keeps leaning away from Natalie but it isn’t helping.

She excuses herself to go to the bathroom, but when she’s out of sight of the bleachers she manages to catch Waverly’s eye and motion her over. Waverly makes some lame excuse that Nicole can tell none of the other cheerleaders are buying before heading her way. Waverly has a worried look on her face as she comes over.

“What is it, baby? Is everything ok?”

“Can we go home?” Nicole asks.

“Right now? It’s still the third quarter,” Waverly says.

“I know. I just,” Nicole hesitates to yawn and stretch, “I’m so tired.”

“Nice try,” Waverly replies, “You’re a terrible liar.”

“Waves,” Nicole whines.

“It’s the last game,” Waverly says, “I can’t leave early.”

“Fine,” Nicole huffs.

They both go back to their respective spots. This time when Natalie flirts with her in the bleachers, Nicole leans into it. She laughs noticeably and doesn’t pull her arm away when Natalie touches it. She takes a glance at Waverly to see her jaw tightening, blood beginning to boil. The fourth quarter is only halfway over when Nicole watches her quickly grab her jacket before stomping over to her.

“We’re going home,” She grumbles, grabbing Nicole’s hand. Nicole doesn’t put up much fight as she allows herself to be dragged out of the gym. She can’t help grinning as she hits the starter on her keys and climbs into the car. Waverly huffs as she climbs in too, buckling her seatbelt. “That girl was flirting with you.”

“What?” Nicole says. She doesn’t chance a look at Waverly as she backs out of the parking spot and puts the car into drive. She heads towards home, doing her best to keep a straight face. “She was just being nice.”

The car is silent and she can tell that Waverly is sulking, formulating some kind of response. Nicole chances a look at Waverly while waiting at the only light between the school and Waverly’s house and sees her jaw flexed as she stares straight ahead, despite Waverly’s favorite song playing on the radio. She tries not to smile at how adorable her angry face is as she turns into the neighborhood for the McCready house

“Well,” Waverly says suddenly, huffing louder than necessary, “She should keep her hands to herself.”

“She was just being nice,” Nicole tries again.

“You’re too nice,” Waverly says with the same, sharp tone. Nicole pulls into the driveway behind Waverly’s Jeep and parks the car. Waverly is out of the car before she can even shut it off. She’s rushing to catch up. This went a little further than Nicole intended. Quickly grabbing Waverly by the waist before she can get any further, she manages to get Waverly to look at her. Waverly sighs loudly and says, “Girls are always throwing themselves at you and you don’t even realize it.”

“There are always going to be girls throwing themselves at me,” Nicole says softly. She hooks a finger beneath Waverly’s chin and makes her look up at her. Waverly’s eyes are dark with jealousy and frustration and, dare she say, perhaps even a bit turned on. “But you’re the one that I want.”

Waverly reaches for her hand, face only relenting in the slightest. Nicole threads their fingers together in response, pulling her closer until Waverly finally gives in and kisses her. The kiss is soft, a promise of more to come, as Waverly’s other hand presses against her chest.

“We have to be quiet going in,” Waverly reminds her, “Gus and Curtis are waking up early.”

“I know,” Nicole murmurs. Waverly pushes off of her chest and turns back towards the house.

She’s digging for the house key but refuses to let go of Nicole’s hand. Waverly finally finds the key and unlocks the house. They close the door quietly behind them and climb the stairs to the bedroom. Waverly drops Nicole’s hand to balance herself as she ascends, the sound of their movements echoing in the silence of the house. When they’re safely inside of the bedroom, Waverly groans loudly and throws herself back on the bed. Her cheer skirt rides up and Nicole can barely see it in the light from the street coming in through the window.

“I don’t know what else to say,” Waverly says.

“Baby,” Nicole says softly. She doesn’t know what to do when Waverly doesn’t look at her. She sighs as she moves closer to Waverly, dropping her hands to Waverly’s knees. “Come on, you’re everything to me.”

“I’m just not supposed to be jealous that other girls flirt with you?” Waverly asks. She sits up then, tucking hair behind her ear and looking down at Nicole. She can see the glimmer in Waverly’s eyes, trying to make out what’s in them in the darkness.

“Well, no,” Nicole says, smiling, “You should get jealous. It’s really hot when you’re jealous. But you shouldn’t worry about those girls. You’re sexy and cute and kind and smart. They don’t stand a chance.”

“Awe, babe,” Waverly coos.

“Trust me,” Nicole says.

“You’re just too nice,” Waverly says. She grabs Nicole’s hand and pulls to towards her stomach. She flattens Nicole’s palm against her flat stomach, Nicole’s thumb slipping beneath the hem of her cheerleading top and sweeping across the exposed skin. “I just only want these beautiful, talented hands on me. I don’t want to see them on anyone else.”

“These hands?” Nicole asks, lifting her injured hand and wiggling her figures.

“Yes,” Waverly replies. She leans closer and kisses Nicole lightly. She feels Waverly’s nose slide over her own, tickling the bridge of her nose. “And these lips. Your warm kisses.”

“My kisses?” Nicole whispers. She starts planting kiss along Waverly’s jaw, her throat, her neck. When she gets to Waverly’s collarbone, she bites gently and swirls her tongue against Waverly’s skin.

“Right there,” Waverly murmurs.

Nicole gives a sloppy nod as she places more languid kisses against Waverly’s skin just above the neck line of her uniform. Her back is aching from the weird bend she’s doing to kiss Waverly. She thinks she’ll manage through the ache, that she would push through the ache for the rest of her life. Squeezing Waverly’s knee with her right hand, she manages to push her good hand across Waverly’s stomach and digs her thumb into her hip.

She pushes Waverly’s top up her torso and moves down to place a kiss against her ribs. Waverly giggles quietly, lifting a hand into Nicole’s hair. Nicole presses a grin against Waverly’s stomach before pulling back quickly to kiss her giggling mouth. The giggles subside and Waverly sticks her fingers into the crooks of Nicole’s neck before sliding along her shoulders and looking for the zipper on her jacket.

Her jacket drops to the floor and she’s kneeling in front of Waverly, looking up into her warm gaze. Her hands push at Waverly’s thighs, thumbs crooked to tease at her inner thigh. She blinks, Waverly’s hands cupping her face. Instantly, she feels like the most important person in the world and all of the love spilling over.

“I love you,” Nicole whispers into the darkness.

“I love you,” Waverly replies, voice a warm sound to Nicole’s ears, “So much.”

Nicole, grinning, gives her a small nod in response. She quickly places a kiss against Waverly’s leg above her hands placed at her knees. She feels Waverly’s hands in her hair, sweeping through the strands to press against her skull. She looks up at Waverly again who immediately offers her an encouraging smile.

“Are you happy, baby?” Nicole asks, “With me?”

“Of course,” Waverly says, desperate. “Nicole.”

“I’m not the same person I was before I fell in love with you,” Nicole says.

“I know,” Waverly says. She digs her fingers into Nicole’s collarbones and pulls her closer, placing a kiss against the corner of her mouth. Nicole lifts her right hand to Waverly’s elbow, but her left hand pushes further up her thigh. She whispers against Nicole’s jaw, “You’re perfect.”

“No, baby, no,” Nicole whispers; Waverly presses her toned calf against Nicole’s back, keeping her poised there in a crouched position on the floor, “You’re perfect. You’re perfect for me.”

Waverly gets shy suddenly, eyes casting downward and hands smoothing down to the dip in the neckline of Nicole’s shirt. Her fingers hover there against Nicole’s chest, pressing against the very top of her cleavage. Waverly doesn’t say anything, just lightly touches Nicole’s barely exposed skin, but she doesn’t even know that she’s said enough to quell Waverly’s frustration of other girls flirting with her.

“I’ve never felt so wanted as I do when I’m with you,” Nicole says. She feels Waverly’s hands slip beneath the collar of her shirt and press against her collarbones. Sighing softly, she tightens her grasp on Waverly’s thighs and lets her fingers slide beneath the hem of her skirt. “You’re my home, baby.”

“Nicole Haught,” Waverly finally says, voice thick and strained, “You’re really beautiful.”

“You are,” Nicole says back. She presses a kiss against Waverly’s thigh, next to her own thumb. Her hands trail higher and she plants another kiss to follow. She breathes out, pushing her hands around to the back of Waverly’s thighs. “You’re absolutely gorgeous. I feel lucky you gave me a chance.”

“You’re mine,” Waverly says, voice still strained. Nicole grins, pressing another kiss to Waverly’s inner thigh. Waverly squirms as her leg tightens around Nicole’s back and she moves her other knee to open more. “And I’m yours.”

Nicole’s eyes water at that. The idea that someone as wonderful as Waverly would want to belong to her. Not that she belongs to anyone. Waverly is her own woman.

Nicole pulls on Waverly’s legs, tugging her towards the edge of the mattress. Her finger aches at the movement but she ignores it as she lines Waverly’s inner thigh with more kisses. She switches legs and leaves a trail of kisses down to Waverly’s knee. She feels the ache in her finger heighten so she pulls her hands back to the tops of Waverly’s thighs. She smooths her palms across bare skin, the feeling of Waverly’s tight muscles beneath her fingertips making her release a low groan into her throat.

Her eyes feel heavy and she blinks slowly to steady herself. Waverly looks deep into her soul, drawing her in with every breath she takes. Nicole absently licks her lips before pushing up slowly and kissing Waverly hard, with purpose. She doesn’t seem prepared for the kiss and falters when their lips touch, grasping at the sides of Nicole’s shirt.

As she kisses Waverly with lips grazing, tongue teasing, and teeth nipping, her hands slide further up Waverly’s thighs until they’re buried beneath her cheerleading skirt. Nicole has imagined the nights she might get a private show in that thing but it’s yet to come. After tonight, there’s a chance she’ll never see the uniform again.

Slowly, Nicole peels at Waverly’s spanks and only breaks from the kiss to lean back and pull them all of the way off. She hears Waverly throw herself back onto the bed by the sound of it gently creaking and when Nicole looks up, she sees Waverly has her legs parted in an enticing manner. She grunts. Leaning in to bite at Waverly’s thigh, her hands return under the skirt in search for the next layer of clothing. She pushes the palm of her good hand against Waverly’s panties and she feels just how wet she is. She husks against Waverly’s skin and sucks on her thigh, most likely leaving a pretty mark there.

The pressure against her center makes Waverly moan softly. It sounds like encouragement to Nicole’s ears. She’s tugging at the material wrapped around Waverly’s hips at the encouragement and pulling back again to toss the panties on the floor. She gazes up at Waverly who is already breathing heavier than just a few moments ago. She leans her upper body down to trail kisses along Waverly’s thigh again as she works her way between Waverly’s firm, warm legs.

Her breath reverberates in the small space and creates a whirlwind of heat, one that sticks to her lips as well as Waverly’s skin before she can even get to the center. She bites at the flesh near her mouth, a plump piece of meat that makes her girlfriend buck her hips upwards in response. She can hear Waverly whining and grunting before she’s even really started.

“You okay, baby?” She says into Waverly’s skin.

“Mmhmm,” Waverly manages, voice even more strained now than before.

“Good,” She whispers against Waverly’s thigh.

Placing another kiss there, she darts out her tongue and sweeps it against Waverly’s warm skin. Continuing her trek, she listens to Waverly’s breathing shallow as she gets closer. Nicole feels her heart burst and the smell of Waverly engulfs her senses. Her hands grasp at Waverly’s skirt and bunches it up. She sweeps her tongue along Waverly’s opening, eliciting a moan from Waverly.

She looks up briefly to see Waverly twisting the upper half of her body, hips already reacting to what Nicole’s doing. She delves her tongue into Waverly’s wetness, licking all of the way up to her clit. She’s moaning again, a little louder than before until the sound becomes muffled. Repeating the movements a few times only seems to work Waverly up more, her body beginning to writhe. She moves her right hand to Waverly’s stomach and pushes down, attempting to keep her grounded. She slips her left hand between Waverly’s thighs and pushes her index finger into Waverly.

Her girlfriend’s breathing seems to stop, a sloppy oh god falling out into the world. She pumps the finger in and out of Waverly while her tongue circles the clit. She slips a second finger in and let’s Waverly adjust to it before continuing her motions. She sucks on the bud of Waverly’s nerves before gently biting and Waverly releases a strained scream. She starts bucking her hips wildly, whispering about how close she is until she moans and stops moving entirely. Nicole licks until Waverly squeaks and pushes a hand into her hair, silently telling her that she can’t take anymore.

As she pulls back, she places a kiss against Waverly’s wet thigh. She pulls both hands away from Waverly’s body and tugs at the hem of her t-shirt. She takes her shirt off and uses it to wipe at all the wetness Waverly has left on her. She tosses her shirt aside and begins placing kisses up Waverly’s thigh again. The cheerleading top is missing so she places kisses along Waverly’s stomach and even peppers some across the tops of her breasts that are peeking out of her bra.

Waverly still isn’t breathing properly. It makes Nicole feel triumphant as she leaves a mark against Waverly’s collarbone. She feels a pressure against her jaw and abandons her task to look up at Waverly. She gets kissed, hard, tongue slowly sweeping along her bottom lip and requesting entrance. Parting her lips, Nicole slides her tongue out to meet Waverly’s. They kiss messily for awhile, Waverly’s hands sliding over her torso.

Her arms get weak, mostly because she can’t place any weight on her right hand, and she leans onto her side. Waverly follows her lead, guiding her onto her back so she can straddle Nicole. The wet heat between Waverly’s legs presses against her torso and it has her groaning.

“You’re so good at that,” Waverly whispers as she leans down to kiss Nicole slowly.

Their kisses are lazy as they both regroup. She kicks off her shoes during this time while Wavery manages to unbutton her pants. They hang loosely at her hips, but neither of the really make much of a move to leave their current position.

After a few minutes, Waverly collapses onto the bed beside her and nuzzles into her neck. She can feel Waverly’s hand on her stomach, playing at the waistline of her pants, and her leg wrap around Nicole’s. She smiles and moves her upper half a bit to slip her right arm beneath Wavery to wrap around her shoulders.

I love you so much, Waverly Earp, Nicole thinks.

I’m gonna marry you some day, Nicole thinks, sooner rather than later.

She doesn’t say this. Instead, she says, “You’re the only one I need. I hope you know that.”

“I love you. I love you. I love you,” Waverly says, peppering her neck with kisses.

She turns her head to look at Waverly. It’s still dark and she can barely make out the shape of her face, but she tenderly kisses Waverly on the forehead. She’s promising she will love Waverly until her dying breath. She’s promising her everything.

Waverly kisses her throat and promptly bites at the flesh. She releases a throat strained sigh, but as she feels Waverly’s hand start to slip beneath the waistband of her underwear she has to react quickly. She grabs Waverly by the wrist just as her fingertips sweep along just the right spot.

“Honestly, baby, I’m so turned on that I don’t think I can come quietly,” Nicole says. She sighs into the darkness and rolls over to angle her body against Waverly’s, pressing their hips flush together. She says, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, baby,” Waverly says sleepily. She places a kiss against Nicole’s chin. Her hand moves over Nicole’s hip and presses firmly against her ass. “We always have tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Nicole replies, “We do.”

They lay like that for a while, wrapped up in each other’s arms with Waverly’s leg between hers. Once she notices Waverly start to drift off to sleep, she coaxes her up to get ready for bed. They change clothes quietly, hands gently brushing against the other as they pass one another.

Nicole thinks this is a dance she could do every day for the rest of her life and realizes she’s already thought about forever with this woman so much that she no longer knows why she isn’t going for it now.

As Waverly snuggles into her, she makes a decision.

She’s going to ask Waverly Earp to be her wife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment or share your concerns. Thank you for reading.


	16. Sixth Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They go to a party at a rather uncomfortable place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I meant to update this. Then I didn't. Then I mean to update it. Then I didn't again. What I'm saying is, ask me for an update please. I just want to keep everyone interested.

Nicole made an executive decision when she woke up this morning to take the splint off of her finger and push through the pain. It was the first practice she’s been able to touch the basketball since she broke it and she’s still favoring her left hand when she didn’t before. She’s missed it, the feeling of the ball beneath her fingertips. Now she sits in front of Coach Lucado with her hand aching and her mind a million miles away.

“You’re favoring your left hand,” Coach Lucado says.

“Yeah,” Nicole says. She absently lifts her right hand a little and peers at it. The finger looks swollen but she balls it into a fist. The sharp pain shoots to her elbow but there isn’t a chance in hell that she’s giving in. “I’ve been working on that jump shot.”

“Heh,” Coach Lucado laughs in her way. She doesn’t seem pleased or even like she’s falling for Nicole’s words. Even then, she doesn’t press any further. She straightens in her chair and says, “There are some letters here from colleges who have shown some interest. Have you given any thought to where you want to go?”

“Well,” Nicole starts. She hesitates. She hasn’t given much thought to it and they haven’t really talked much about life after high school. There’s been so many other things going on outside of basketball that she hasn’t even been able to try thinking about it. “I’ve kind of had a lot going on.”

The admission stabs her reality, hard.

“Your grades are up,” Coach points out, “I think you could get your choice of school here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Coach says, with a little more enthusiasm than normal, “Come on, Nicole. What do you want?”

She pauses and looks at her hands, her bare hands. The ring Waverly gave her is in her bag, taken off for practice. She hates it. She’s been wearing it for 3 weeks straight and now her hands look weird without it.

“Waverly,” She says, “I need to talk to her.”

“Whatever you decide,” Coach replies, “I hope you take what you want for your future into consideration.”

Nicole nods slowly as Coach lifts a stack of envelopes to hand to her. Silently, she takes them and exits the office. She heads to the locker room and gathers her things, not even bothering to change out of her practice gear other than her shoes. She buries the envelopes into her bag and grabs it before heading into the gym where Waverly is waiting for her.

“Everything ok, baby?” Waverly asks as she approaches.

“Coach just wanted to talk about my hand. First practice I got to actually handle the ball;” Nicole answers with a shrug. She lifts her lift hand and Waverly’s direction and helps her up off of the bleachers. As soon as Waverly is standing, Nicole drapes her arms across her shoulders and leads her out of the gym towards her vehicle. “Do you have any homework left?”

The cheerleaders are no longer practicing. Their season is over now. Nicole feels bad for Waverly having to wait in the bleachers through all of practice, but any time Nicole looked over her girlfriend had her nose in a book.

“I saved chemistry,” Waverly said with a shrug. Nicole gets it. So Waverly can go over it with her and make sure she has everything for the midterms at the end of the week. “Did you need help with some of your homework?”

“Maybe,” Nicole says with a light, non-committed shrug, “I’ll have to look through it.”

They climb into the car and buckle up, heading in the direction of home. The drive is short, as always, the streets busy with kids outside playing, and they chat idly about things that happened at school. She heard that Chrissy and Robin broke up some time after lunch but Waverly doesn’t mention it. Waverly also asks about her finger but she brushes it off.

When they get home she runs upstairs to take a shower. With Gus and Curtis gone for the week they have to fend for themselves in regards to food and cleaning. The place has to be spotless when they return from the city. They’ve been tasked with finding more vendors for Shorty’s and also taking a little time alone.

While she’s in the shower, Waverly comes in to ask her a few questions. Mostly just things like what she wants for dinner and how many homework assignments she has left to get done. Waverly even asks her if she wants to watch a movie later after they’re done with homework. When she gets out, she puts on a pair of joggers with the Toronto Raptors logo on them and a t-shirt.

She makes her way down the stairs and sees Waverly in the kitchen. Nicole heads into the kitchen and slides up behind her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her waist from behind. For a moment, Nicole imagines a life where it’s just the two of them and they’re doing it for themselves. She thinks about all of the ways she can ask Waverly to be her wife.

Waverly announces with a soft giggle that dinner is ready. As Waverly slips out of her grasp, Nicole feels an ache in her chest. She wears a triumphant grin and it only makes Nicole’s stomach do flips. They sit down to dinner and eat, casually discussing random bits of news Waverly caught on the internet while Nicole was at basketball practice. Nicole almost goes off on a tangent about basketball teams, how the season is closing and where they stand, but she catches herself when she remembers that Waverly really isn’t that into the sport.

After dinner they sit down to do homework. She has way more to do than Waverly does but they buckle down and get it all finished in just under two hours. It still isn’t even 8pm and Nicole is tired, but Waverly convinces her to follow through with that earlier decision to watch something on Netflix.

Waverly picks some romcom about teenage love that Nicole doesn’t plan on paying attention to anyway, and they settle into the couch. Waverly presses into her side, getting comfortable as the movie starts up. Her feet are propped up on the coffee table and Waverly has one leg draped across her thighs. She feels Waverly’s hand press against her stomach, making soothing, circular movements. It lulls her into a relaxation that she feels herself being pulled in the direction of sleep.

She wakes up halfway through the movie to Waverly moving around at her side trying to get more comfortable. The pain in her finger throbs and there’s a crick in her neck that makes her move to get more comfortable. They move through a good scene in the movie, trying to get situated. She ends up with her back pressed against the couch and Waverly against her front, hand pressed against Waverly’s stomach to keep her from falling off of the couch.

Waverly’s luscious hair tickles her nose but it still smells amazing. She breathes Waverly in and becomes overwhelmed with the urge to press kisses along Waverly’s neck. Sweeping her hair away to expose the skin, Nicole shifts just a little to pepper those kisses lightly against her neck. Waverly hums softly and sinks more into Nicole’s embrace.

They both drift off to sleep after a few more minutes only waking up to the end credits and crawling upstairs into bed.

|

Nicole has heard through the grapevine that her parents have left town again. It’s interesting to hear these things through the rumor mill when she hardly ever knew in advance if she was walking into a house they would be in or not. Usually, they left like thieves in the night. No forewarning, no notes left behind explaining their departure, rarely even a text to impart a goodbye. She isn’t so much used to hearing rumors about her own parents, but when it comes with the prospect of a party at her old house attached she isn’t really surprised. She would be fine skipping this party, but Waverly really wants to go and she will go wherever Waverly wants to go.

Even as her girlfriend gets all dressed up in the sexiest skirt and highest cropped shirt she’s ever seen another human person wear, Nicole has reservations. It isn’t that she doesn’t necessarily want to go to the party, which she doesn’t, but she doesn’t really feel welcome in that house. So far, she’s avoided a ton of questions from her classmates about her moving out.

“Ugh,” Nicole groans from her spot on the bed, laying on her back and waiting for Waverly to finish getting ready, “Do we really have to go to this party?”

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Waverly says. Nicole feels it in the silence, the desire Waverly has to go to this party Shae is throwing at her house. A few minutes passes before Waverly crawls across the mattress and straddles her hips. Both of Waverly’s hands press against her stomach. She says, “We can go somewhere else.”

“No,” Nicole says, groaning again. Her eyes trail across Waverly’s face, taking in her perfected make up and hair before trailing all of the way down to Waverly’s short, short skirt. She throws herself back on the bed again, lifting her hands to circle Waverly’s wrists. “You want to go, we’ll go.”

“We’ve just,” Waverly says, eyes leaving Nicole’s to look at their hands, “We’ve never gotten to do something like this together before.”

“We’ve been to a party together before,” Nicole reminds her.

“Yeah but this is different,” Waverly replies. She watches as Waverly pulls back to slide one of their hands together, fingers entwining as she pulls their hands towards her chest. Nicole follows, slowly sitting up and wrapping her other hand around to the small of Waverly’s back. She gives questioning a look. Waverly sighs and says, “Besides, I look too cute to not show off.”

“You always look cute,” Nicole says. She sweeps her nose along Waverly’s before kissing the tip of it lightly. She feels Waverly’s hand tighten around hers, holding it firmly against her chest. “And you know I’ll happily show you off. You just have to promise not to make me dance.”

“You know I don’t make promises I can’t keep,” Waverly says with a grin.

Nicole laughs gently as they both move off of the bed. Waverly pulls on a pair of ankle boots fairly quickly before they head down the stairs. They make sure all of the lights are off in the house before they leave. They make their way to Nicole’s car and climb in, buckling up before she takes the familiar route to her parents’ house.

When she makes it to the neighborhood, Nicole feels a sense of dread loom over her. She thinks Waverly must be able to tell, because she reaches over to place a comforting hand on Nicole’s knee. She chances a look, able to form a genuine smile, before turning her gaze back to the road. She pulls onto the road of her old house and parks somewhere in the street, the driveway already too full.

She makes her way around the car where Waverly is already waiting for her and waiting for her hand. She follows Waverly towards the big house she used to fall home, the stereo already popping with music and the walls vibrating a little harder than they ever did when she lived here. Climbing the steps, they have narrow themselves so Waverly is lifting their hands over her head and leading her along as they slip in through the front door.

Waverly’s already moving expertly with the music, pulling her towards the kitchen where the drinks usually are. They quickly each grab a drink and take a massive gulp. She’s drinking a cheap beer that tastes a little saltier than it should while Waverly is drinking some mixture with whiskey in it. The cup she drinks from is discarded into the trash can soon enough, Waverly having guzzled it down quickly so she can return to dancing.

“Come dance,” Waverly says with a pout.

“Baby,” Nicole says as firm as she can manage.

“Just be with me,” Waverly tries.

“I can do that,” Nicole quickly relents.

She takes Waverly’s hand again and they make their way into the living room. The living room she used to spend Christmases and other holidays. The living room she won’t be doing that anymore in.

Waverly dances around her for a while, running her hands along Nicole’s shoulders and back and stomach. There aren’t many people dancing with them. A few stragglers her and there, but mostly just people staring at Waverly as she makes her movements around Nicole. The people who are dancing around them aren’t paying any attention to them, just moving to the music.

She finishes her drink and puts her hand on Waverly’s waist to get her attention. When she hesitates long enough, Nicole leans forward and whispers in her ear that she’s going to retrieve another drink. Waverly turns to face her and gives her a playful pout before placing a chaste kiss against her lips. She feels Waverly pat her on the ass as she moves past her to go back into the kitchen.

As she makes her way through the living room, one of the pictures on a shelf catches her eye. She moves to get a closer look and notices something different about them. Scoffing from deep within her chest, she realizes she’s been cropped out of all of the family photos. With a shake of her head, she continues into the kitchen to get a second drink. She goes for something a little stronger this time and downs about two shots of tequila in one go before grabbing a beer.

When she returns to the living room, she immediately spots Waverly who looks less than thrilled. The smile she’d had when Nicole left her is completely gone and replaced with a fear inducing scowl. In just a few strides, she’s closing in on her and gets a better view of what’s going on. Champ has Waverly cornered, hands a little too close to touching her than Nicole likes.

“Yo. Don’t want to interrupt you, my dude,” Nicole says, slamming her hand down on Champ’s shoulder, “But I don’t think she likes that very much.”

“Are you serious right now?” Champ grumbles.

“Oh, she totally hates it,” Nicole replies. She takes a step away from Champ and extends a hand to Waverly. She feels Waverly slip a hand into hers and she pulls her away from Champ. They make their way towards the backyard where the music is quieter but the chatter is higher. Once they are outside, Nicole says, “You ok, baby?”

“Everything’s fine,” Waverly insists. She feels Waverly’s nails drag along her palm as their hands let go. Nicole doesn’t entirely believe her as she follows closely behind, placing that same hand against the small of Waverly’s back. “He just...”

Nicole waits for a moment to see if Waverly will finish her thought. She doesn’t. Nicole says, “You know you can tell him to fuck off, right?”

“I can’t be mean,” Waverly replies.

“Then tell him you have a girlfriend,” Nicole says, “Put the blame on me if he makes you uncomfortable.”

“I’m sorry,” Waverly mutters.

“Hey,” Nicole says quickly. She sets her drink down in the nearest surface to reach for Waverly. She cups her face in her hands, drawing Waverly in closer. She presses a kiss to Waverly’s cheekbone and pulls her in for a tight hug. “Don’t be sorry.”

She feels Waverly’s hands tighten as she grasps her shirt tightly at the sides. Nicole moves slowly, swaying side to side. She feels Waverly settle into the movement as they fall into a rhythm akin to dancing. They move for a few minutes like that, ignoring everything else around them. The music is out of tune with them but Waverly really doesn’t seem to mind.

Eventually, Chrissy comes up and ruins the moment. She steals Waverly’s attention for a minute, dragging her over to one of the lawn sofas in the big backyard. There’s room beside Waverly for Nicole sit on and when wicker beneath the cushioning creaks her girlfriend seems to instinctively lean back against her side. She takes a drink of the beer she’s sat down and casts a glance over Waverly’s shoulder as she swallows it.

Chrissy seems a little upset as she tells Waverly the story of her and Robin’s break up. She keeps repeating that he’s a really nice guy, but tears absently litter her cheeks. Nicole feels bad for her, but part of her can’t help feeling like she’s super lucky for what she has. She takes the moment to wrap her arm around Waverly’s waist again and settles a hand against the hip closest to the outside of the couch. Waverly gives her hand a squeeze, but her undivided attention soon turns back to Chrissy.

When the two friends hug, her arm gets caught in the middle but none of them say anything. It’s a little weird for Nicole to realize that this is the way her life could be - her social Waverly lifting up the world and she just gets caught in the middle. There are worse things in life than that, she’s sure.

“I just wanna dance,” Chrissy says while wiping at a few stray tears.

Waverly’s nodding before turning her upper body more towards Nicole for confirmation. Immediately, she moves her arm for her to get off of the couch. She says, “Go, go.”

Waverly lays a kiss against her mouth before she saunters off with Chrissy and leaves her alone on the sofa. She watches them walk away, clasping hands in a way that isn’t entirely unlike she and Waverly do. Once they are out of sight, she takes a big swig from her drink, downing nearly half of it in one go. She feels the furniture bow beneath someone’s weight and blinks a few times before she registers Shae sitting beside her.

“I’m sorry about your parents,” Shae says, low and quiet.

“Eh,” Nicole says, shrugging, “We all have shitty parents.”

For a moment, she thinks about Waverly. The way her parents are their own special kind of shitty. Despite her mom being present-ish, she isn’t really around, and her dad never calls. Not her anyway. But she has some pretty great stand in parents who have even made Nicole feel welcome. Maybe they too can be parents one day, together, making a child feel loved and welcome in their home.

“I’m surprised you came,” Shae says.

“Waverly wanted to,” Nicole says. She shrugs again before taking another drink, nearly finishing the cheap beer off this time. It’s cold and it doesn’t burn when it goes down, not like the tequila she drank after seeing the pictures she’s no longer in.

“You really love her, don’t you?” Shae says, her voice sounding like a hum.

“I really, really do,” Nicole answers. She feels a smile tug at the corners of her mouth as she looks at the label on the bottle. It’s a Shock Top and she starts peeling at it. The label comes loose and she can’t take the silence between them anymore. She stands and says, “I’m gonna go get another drink. I’ll see you around.”

She doesn’t really wait around to hear anything else that Shae has to say before she heads back into the house. She throws the bottle into the trash and grabs another one from the ice. Popping the top off of it, she hears a ruckus in the living room and her curiosity encourage her to follow the growing crowd.

“Champ, stop! I have a girlfriend!” Nicole only hesitates for a moment at the realization that that’s her girlfriend screaming from the other room. She forces her way through the crowd, looking over heads that she can easily see over. She keeps pushing, ready to jump in the middle. “Why do you always do this when you know I have a girlfriend?”

“You don’t even look gay,” he says, like it explains everything he’s ever done.

“I’ve done some pretty gay things, right, Nicole?” Waverly says.

Nicole is just a few feet from them now and she stops like a deer caught in headlights. She looks around the room, noticing nearly everyone staring intensely at her. She gulps loudly and looks back at Waverly. She whispers, “I don’t know what you want me to say here. Everyone is staring at me. It could kind of go either way.”

“Ok,” Waverly says, calming down finally. Waverly steps closer to her and reaches for Nicole’s hand. She ignores Champ, the other eyes on her, and leans closer to Nicole. “You don’t have to say anything. I’m sorry.”

“Like...do you...do you want me to tell them how gay you can be or do you want me to stop talking?” Nicole says. She’s pretty sure she still isn’t breathing. She’s looking at Waverly for help but Waverly isn’t giving her any guidance. “I should stop talking. I’m going to stop talking.”

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” Champ says, “Waverly’s like...really hot.”

“And I,” Waverly says, pressing a hand against Nicole’s stomach while staring Champ down, “Think Nicole’s really hot. I don’t think there’s more to the gay criteria than that. Is there, baby?”

“No,” Nicole says, finally gaining her bearings again. She stands up straighter and slings an arm around Waverly’s shoulders. “That about covers it.”

“Whatever,” Champ growls, turning away.

He mumbles something about Waverly not being that hot anyway. All Nicole does is laugh much louder than is probably necessary. The rest of the crowd wanders away, going back to their chatting and dancing and drinking.

“I could kill that guy,” Nicole grumbles. She’s still watching his retreating form as he disappears into the backyard. All Nicole wants to do is leave so she doesn’t have to keep putting up with all of the bullshit of people ogling her girlfriend. It happens enough as it is. “He’s such an asshole.”

“Forget about him,” Waverly says, pressing both hands against Nicole’s stomach now and guiding her back towards the corner, “Just look at me.”

“What did he do to you?” Nicole says, gaze snapping to Waverly’s.

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” Waverly dismisses, “It’s over now.”

“Fuck,” Nicole says with a huge sigh. She sets her drink on a shelf behind her and lifts both hands to Waverly’s hair. She delves her fingers into the brunette strands and searches Waverly’s face to see if she’s ok. “If he touches you again, I’m breaking his arm.”

“Don’t,” Waverly whispers. She pushes up in her toes to close the distance between them. Waverly evens out their gazes as best as possible and grasps the front of Nicole’s shirt. “You’re better than he is. We both are.”

“I know,” Nicole huffs. Taking a quick look around to make sure no one else is struggling in the drama Champ stirred up, Nicole feels her eyes get a little heavy. She brushes her fingers down the strands of Waverly’s curls, only stopping to cup Waverly’s face in her hands. “I just want to protect you. That’s all.”

“God,” Waverly groans, “You’re so sexy.”

“Yeah?” Nicole says into her throat, lowering her lips and hovering them over Waverly’s.

She can’t help the grin that forms on her mouth. Absently licking her lips, she feels her tongue briefly touch a Waverly’s top lip but it pulls away sooner than Waverly wants. She feels Waverly grasp her shirt tighter and pull her down, their mouths colliding. They kiss hard and slowly, Nicole trailing her hand down Waverly’s front. Their tongues meet and battle for dominance, hands grasping hard and tight.

They pull apart when neither of them can breathe anymore. She rests her forehead against Waverly’s. She says, “I wish I could take you upstairs.”

Waverly laughs.

“Better?” Nicole asks.

“You make everything better,” Waverly says with a cheesy grin.  Nicole settles her hands on Waverly’s hips and pulls her closer.  The party around them resumes; it seems that people have already forgotten about them and their drama.  “My cute, cuddly, baby.”

“Ok,” Nicole says, feeling a little bit like she’s been exposed, “You’ve had a bit to drink.”

“It is a party,” Waverly points out.

“Yeah, yeah,” Nicole says with a laugh.

She puts a little space between them but reaches for Waverly’s hand.  Grabbing her drink from behind her, she pulls Waverly back into the kitchen to get her a fresh drink.  She fixes Waverly a fresh drink and hands it over before taking a long drink of her own.  Waverly settles into her side as they both sip on their drinks with Waverly’s arm wrapped around her waist and her back leaning into Nicole’s arm while she rests her hand against the countertop.

Nicole thinks about the times Waverly cooked her dinner in this kitchen, the times they studied together, the time they got into a food fight before it turned into one of the sexiest things she’s ever experienced.  She shakes her head before downing the rest of drink, ultimately deciding that, as difficult as being here again so soon is, she should probably switch to water.  She drove them and if she has another she may be one of the people crashing at her old house, perhaps not even comfortably.

She gives Waverly a kiss on her cheek before moving from her spot and retrieving a water.  She quickly drinks half of it in one go.  When she brings her water back down, Waverly is engaged in a conversation with Shae.  Nicole swallows her saliva, debating on whether or not she should return back to Waverly.  Shae has already been a little weird this evening considering, and she looks fairly intoxicated by this point so Nicole is a little nervous about what she might say.  But she chances it anyway and, when she gets close, Waverly reaches for her without missing a beat in their conversation.

She overhears a portion of their conversation.  She thinks they’re talking about things they want to study in college, which is currently a sore subject for them.  Especially considering there’s a stack of invitation letters in her drawer that she hasn’t gone through yet.  She just hasn’t had the courage to broach the conversation.

“What about you?” Shae shifts the question to her, “Given colleges any thought yet?”

“Uh,” Nicole stutters, looking between her girlfriend and her ex-girlfriend, “I don’t know.  I honestly don’t know what else I want to do other than basketball.”

“You can do whatever you want,” Shae says quickly, slapping her upper arm.  Nicole shifts her gaze and stares at the spot Shae slapped her arm.  She has no idea what’s happening.  “Come on, Nicole.  Be realistic.”

“What?” Nicole says, confused.

“You can’t just do basketball,” Shae says.

“If you work hard,” Waverly interjects, “I think you can achieve your dream.”

“Thank you, baby,” Nicole replies.  She sends Waverly a smile, shifting her weight uncomfortably.

“You two are good together,” Shae says with a sigh.  When Nicole looks at her again, she blinks twice.  It’s like looking at two completely different pictures.  In one she’s smiling.  In the other she’s sad.  “Your parents are idiots to think that I or anyone else can break you two up.”

“Wait,” Nicole says, brain having a difficult time trying to connect the dots, “They what?”

“You’re adorable,” Shae says with a laugh.  Nicole feels Waverly push her back a little, stepping between her and Shae.  The small of her back presses against the counter and she narrows her gaze sharply at Shae.  “Your parents really thought I could break you guys up.”

“Shae,” Nicole says gruffly, Waverly’s palm flattening against her thigh, “They cut me out of pictures. Do you-“

“They what?” Waverly cuts her off, practically screaming so loud that the entire house can hear her clearly, “I’m gonna-“

“No,” Nicole says, dropping all pleasantries, “You’re not.  We aren’t going to keep doing this with people, baby.  We don’t have to explain anything to anyone.”

“God, you two are obsessed with each other,” Shae says, only seriousness on her face now.

“You need to back off,” Nicole replies sharply, “And if you respected either one of us you would tell my parents to go to hell.”

“Whoa whoa,” comes a newer, more masculine voice, “Everything ok here?”

Nicole stands up straight, throwing her shoulders back and chancing a look at the voice.  There stands Robin with his young looking face and kindness, hands prepared to jump in between anything else that could escalate.  He gives his most convincing smile and a pointed look.

“Everything’s fine,” Nicole says with a heavy hearted sigh.  Grounding herself by reaching for Waverly’s hand and entwining their fingers, she chances a glance at her girlfriend.  Waverly is still fuming and Nicole thinks it’s sexy and also scary.  Waverly is damn near unpredictable when she’s angry.  She gives Waverly’s hand a squeeze and says, “It’s fine, baby.”

“Wait, I’m going to say something,” Waverly says, voice unwavering as she stares at Shae, “Nicole is my girlfriend, mine.  I appreciate that you’ve been as supportive as you have been considering she used to be yours, but we are in love with each other in a big way.  We changed each other’s lives.  Even Nicole’s terrible parents with their terrible ideas aren’t going to change that.  Whatever comes our way, we’ve got this.  We will figure it out because she means everything to me.  Tell them to go to hell, don’t, doesn’t matter, but her parents don’t deserve her and I think you know that too.”

Nicole is a little taken aback by Waverly’s moving speech.  Everyone involved now, Shae and Robin and Chrissy who is a straggler walking in fresh, is looking at Waverly like she commands the room, and she does.  She’s always done it in a subtle way but now she’s doing it in a definitive way that everyone else just seems to politely be waiting for their turn to speak.  They’re basically thwarting everyone off from getting a fresh drink with the crowd of Waverly worshippers and all Nicole can do is smile widely because that’s her girlfriend right there.

Nicole gives the room a look over and sees that everyone is in awe and then looks back at Waverly who is a little too embarrassed to say anything else with everyone staring at her.  Nicole decides to take the heat off of her.  She says loud enough for everyone to hear, “That’s my baby.”

“Nicole,” Waverly quickly reprimands but it’s missing the sharp edges of anything other than lightheartedness.  Waverly angles her body away from the crowd by turning towards Nicole and tucks her face into Nicole’s chest.  “God, why did I do that?”

“My heart just swelled ten times larger,” Nicole replies, “All I can say is: damn.”

She has a want to propose in this moment, telling Waverly that everything she said means everything to her.  But she manages to keep her thoughts contained and focused, opting not to embarrass Waverly further.  Instead she laughs, slightly uncomfortable herself, as she wraps bother arms around Waverly’s back and shields her.

“I’ve got you, baby,” she says.  The promise wards Shae off for now, with a terse smile that indicates an apology.  She didn’t mean to get it that far, especially when Waverly put her into her place and she should really be the one embarrassed.  “It’s really sexy when you fight for me.”

“Jesus,” Waverly mumbles in return, “The only thing left to tell everyone is our sex life.”

“You’re a great lay,” Nicole insists as Waverly looks up at her.

“Baby,” Waverly squeals, slapping Nicole lightly on the arm.  Nicole smirks as she slides her hands down to Waverly’s thighs and picks her up, a laughter bubbling out of her.  The noise is like music to Nicole’s ears and the feeling only elated as Waverly wraps herself around her - legs and arms attaching to her.  “Don’t drop me!”

“I’ve never dropped you.  Besides, you weigh like nothing,” Nicole says, pressing a smile against Waverly’s chest.  She casually places a kiss against Waverly’s skin before lowering her to the ground again.  She lightly taps Waverly on the ass and she jumps back into Nicole’s arms.  She wraps her arms around Waverly again, dropping kisses into her neck.  Nicole kisses up to Waverly’s ear and whispers, “Come on.  Let’s go make out.”

Grabbing Waverly by the hand, she pulls her back outside and to the bench on the patio.  It’s still empty from when she vacated it a while ago and the backyard, in fact, has less inhabitants in it than it did before.  She takes a seat on the bench and Waverly follows her, placing herself directly in Nicole’s lap.

Waverly’s skirt rides up and she shivers as she burrows into Nicole.  They don’t actually start making out, not right away, but Nicole holds her tightly with Waverly slipping her hands beneath her shirt.  Cold hands press against her stomach, thirsty for the warmth her body has to offer.

“I’m not leaving you alone for the rest of the night,” Nicole says.  She leans her cheek against Waverly’s forehead, her arms holding her girlfriend into place on her lap.  “Every time we’ve been apart some drama goes down.”

“Well,” Waverly says, dragging her hands around Nicole’s stomach and massaging at the muscles, “I have to go to the bathroom.  So...”

Nicole sighs heavily, wondering why Waverly would tell her just minutes after them sitting down.  She bounces her knees slightly and Waverly turns slowly while reaching for Nicole’s hand.  She allows herself to be lead upstairs to her old bedroom where there’s a small line waiting for the bathroom.  She absently thinks that at least nobody is having sex in her bed, but then remembers that it isn’t her bed.  She wraps her arms around Waverly’s waist from behind and they move with the line until it’s Waverly’s turn.  Waverly steps forward but keeps a hold on Nicole’s hand, pulling her with her.

“I’ll wait outside,” Nicole says, gesturing over her shoulder.

“No,” Waverly hums, “You said you weren’t leaving me alone the rest of the night.”

“Well, it’s the bathroom,” Nicole replies, “I’ll just be right out here.”

“Too bad,” Waverly says, tugging on her hand again.

Nicole follows, limbs feeling like jelly.  Waverly closes the door behind them and locks it.  Nicole grumbles, “Nothing can go wrong with you alone in the bathroom.”

“But it can go wrong with you out there,” Waverly argues with a pointed smile.

Nicole smiles too, relaxing in her stance.  Waverly quickly moves over to the toilet, familiar with the layout from the weekends she’s spent here.  Nicole looks around the bathroom to see what has been changed since she left nearly two weeks ago.  She notices that not much is different.

“This is a whole new level of intimacy,” Nicole says, moving to stand in front of the sink.  She begins opening drawers and looking through them, noting that all of her things that she left behind are in the same spot.  She closes the drawer quickly and looks up into the mirror, their eyes meeting in the reflection.  She thinks she’s going to marry Waverly some day and something like this was probably going to happen.  “Let’s not make it a habit.”

“This isn’t the worst,” Waverly says.  Nicole laughs softly and drops her gaze from Waverly’s.  She hears the toilet flush behind her.  Reluctantly turning to face Waverly, Nicole can’t help the grin that slides across her mouth.  “Besides, we live together now.”

“We don’t have to do everything together,” Nicole replies with a shrug.  Leaning against the sink counter, she crosses her arms over her chest.  Waverly washes her hands and dries them on the towel.  “Maybe Shae was right. We are obsessed with each other.”

“Totally,” Waverly says, leaning forward and lightly kissing her on the mouth.  Waverly’s hands slip beneath her shirt and press against her stomach.  Both thumbs sweep over her abdomen, tracing the muscles that want to be defined.  “You’re my best baby.”

“Oh yeah?” Nicole asks with a grin.  Waverly kisses her again, hard and warm.  She feels Waverly’s hand lower down her torso before it slips into her pants, digits cold against her warm skin.  There’s a banging on the bathroom door that tears them apart.  “You gotta be kidding me.”

Waverly groans and pulls her hands back to her chest.

“I have to pee!” Someone yells from the other side of the door.

“I could have to pee,” Nicole says sarcastically.  Waverly gives her a look that makes her reach out and pull her back to her.  She says, “I don’t.  I just want to keep making out with you.”

She leans down to kiss Waverly again but the banging on the door stops her short.  She groans now, loudly and echoing off of the bathroom walls.  She weighs her options quickly.  She could drown out the outside noise by playing music on her phone or turning on the shower.

“Come on,” Waverly says, grasping the front of her shirt, “We can make out anywhere.”

Nicole sighs as she follows Waverly out of the bathroom.  As she passes by the person banging on the door she shoots them a glare, but Waverly really doesn’t stop pulling her long enough for her to voice anything.  They make their way back downstairs through the crowd that’s gathered on the stairs.  She absently checks her watch to see it’s nearly 1 in the morning.

She follows Waverly into the backyard.  Someone has finally taken up space on the bench so they move out into the yard.  There’s a fire pit that hasn’t been lit and for a moment Nicole considers lighting it, that she might be the only person who knows how, but opts not to go through that effort.  It’s not her party, not her house anymore.

She takes a seat on the slightly damp grass.  Waverly quickly follows, depositing herself into Nicole’s lap.  Without anything to lean against, the weight of Waverly displaces her and she has to lean back on her hands.  Waverly’s legs get tucked up under her as she slides her hands around to the back of Nicole’s neck.  They haven’t spent much time in the backyard as it’s finally starting to warm up, but now it’s filled with bodies playing beer pong.

Waverly’s hands slide down Nicole’s shoulders and it tickles her slightly.  Her arms wobble and she has to lean forward to keep from falling back.  She says, “Baby, it’s wet.”

“Sorry,” Waverly replies.

When Waverly leans in, she’s ready for the kiss, quickly returning it with fervor and is filled with want.  She feels Waverly’s hand smooth across her chest and tickle at her ribcage, her weight fully pressed against Nicole’s body.  She pulls back slowly and leans her forward against Waverly’s.  

Nicole says, “You’ve been teasing me all night with those wandering hands.”

“I can’t help it,” Waverly mutters.

Nicole hums.

“Come on,” Stephanie Jones says, tapping Waverly on the shoulder, “We’re about to play spin the bottle.”

“I think we’re good,” Nicole says.

“Yeah,” Waverly agrees, running her hands along Nicole’s stomach now, “We’re already kissing who we want to kiss.”

“Whatever,” Stephanie grumbles as she heads into the house.

“You wanna kiss me, huh?” Nicole teases.  Waverly rolls her eyes and pushes her hands against Nicole’s stomach.  Nicole smirks in response.  “Do you think we can sneak upstairs yet?”

“I think,” Waverly starts slowly, running her hands over Nicole’s torso and up into her hair, “We’ve been here long enough.  I appreciate you for bringing me, but I just want to be in our own bed where we can do whatever we want and not have to worry about anything or anyone else.”

“I like the sound of that,” Nicole replies.

She helps Waverly up off of her lap.  They sneak past the game of spin the bottle and the people dancing widely in a corner of the living room.  She quickly takes a glance up the stairs in the direction of her old bedroom and sees that her bedroom door is open, almost like there isn’t any trace of her existence in the house anymore.  When they climb into the car, they casually make their way back to the house, a place she can call her home.


	17. Foul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicole is officially cut OFF

Over the weekend, they do normal couple things.  They clean, make dinner (kind of, Nicole is still learning), and have sex.  Their homework is out of the way for the most part by the time they even went to the party so they don’t have any real responsibilities other than keeping the house clean.  Nicole pretty much, surprisingly, picks up after herself as she goes anyway.

The first game of the state tournament is during school.  It’s a tough 2 hours away so the team leaves during lunch with the smallest set of carpooling they’ve seen all year.  When she glances out of the back, she has to do a double take when she sees Waverly’s Jeep fall in line.  The bus stops before turning and she shoots her girlfriend a text just to see what’s going on.

Waverly replies quickly with a few words slipped in that really don’t make much sense.  Something that mostly confirms she’s coming to the game in ‘support of my baby.’  Nicole rolls her eyes at that but still grins, her excited levels increasing at the idea of Waverly still being there to cheer her on like every other time.

The next two hours are rather boring.  She doesn’t have Waverly to talk to and they can’t even text because Waverly is driving.  She just listens to music while she focuses on her class work that she’s missing by going to the first round of the tournament.  At least this way she won’t have any responsibilities when she gets home.

Throughout the game, Waverly is the loudest in the crowd and this time she’s solely cheering for Nicole. It encourages Nicole like she doesn’t expect. The sound of her girlfriend’s voice erupting and saying her name louder than anyone else in the gym motivates her like no other.

They walk away with the win. She doesn’t take a shower and just leaves the locker room after her coach’s speech. When she exits, Waverly is waiting for her right outside.

“Baby, you did so good,” Waverly says, immediately putting her arms around Nicole.

“Thank you,” Nicole replies, placing a quick kiss against Waverly’s mouth. They hug briefly and she keeps her arm around Waverly’s shoulders when they pull back. “I’ll ride with you back.”

“Really?!” Waverly says.

“Yeah,” Nicole confirms. She hasn’t actually told her coach, and there’s a possibility she’s going to get into trouble. But she doesn’t answer to anyone anymore. Except Waverly. And Gus. And Curtis. “I’m starving. Are you hungry?”

“Let me google somewhere nearby,” Waverly says. She fishes out her phone and looks for somewhere that isn’t too far. The school they’re playing at is a lot closer to city life than where they’re from. By the time they make it to Waverly’s Jeep, she’s shoving the keys into Nicole’s hands. “Here.”

‘Waves?” She asks, reluctantly taking the keys.

“You’re a better driver than me,” Waverly says, batting her eyelashes. She doesn’t necessarily agree, but she’s really only ridden in the car with Waverly once. Otherwise, they’ve always defaulted to her driving.

“You’re adorable when you’re lying,” Nicole says, not even fighting the grin.

They climb into the vehicle and Waverly soon finds a place nearby for them to eat. It takes a few minutes to get out of the busy parking lot as there are a few games at this place throughout the day, but when they do finally break free Nicole takes the route Waverly’s phone provides. Although she’s feeling fairly tired, she’s even more hungry.

The restaurant isn’t too large, but when they enter she sees that it’s a mostly vegan menu. She gags looking over the menu, feeling Waverly’s mean gaze narrow on her. Waverly is less than impressed, but she just flashes a dimpled smile to get herself out of trouble.

“Baby, you said you would try,” Waverly says from her side of the table. When Nicole looks up at her, Waverly is giving her wide, expectant eyes. Nicole shrugs. “You don’t have to eat vegan, but just try to eat healthier, at least.”

“I don’t have much of a choice,” Nicole replies.

“What does that mean?” Waverly asks, gaze narrowing.

“I just mean that I can’t cook so my options are pretty limited,” Nicole explains, “Whatever you cook or I can pick up is what I have to work with.”

“Ok, I’m gonna teach you how to cook,” Waverly says. Nicole just smiles in response, already wishing she could just continue to eat whatever she wants. Waverly has basically just changed everything about her life, including her diet. “It can just be something we do together.”

“We always do everything together, baby,” Nicole reminds her. She catches the beginnings of a pout on Waverly's face and quickly reaches across the table to grab her hand. Nicole’s breathing gets caught in her throat, wondering if this could be the moment she asks Waverly to always do everything with her forever. Shit, she doesn’t have a ring. “What’s one more thing?”

“You’re buttering me up,” Waverly accuses kindly.

“Maybe,” Nicole says, winking. She squeezes Waverly’s arm before pulling her hand back to her. She sighs dramatically and says, “But don’t expect me to make things that are edible.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says, suddenly extremely serious. Taken aback, she looks at Waverly expectantly as she steels herself from uncertainty of what’s about to happen next. She holds her breath in preparation. “We really need to figure things out.”

“I know,” she agrees, “I’ll get it all taken care of.”

“I mean it. We can’t keep tip-toeing around things. We graduate soon. Then what are we going to do? Break up?” Waverly sighs so loudly that it echoes in Nicole’s ears.

She cringes slightly, heart pounding in her chest as someone comes over to take their order. Nicole hasn’t even looked at the menu, not really. She just orders the first thing she sees that Waverly can eat. The moment they’re alone again, she’s looking at Waverly who has the biggest tears in her eyes.

“I don’t want to break up,” Waverly finally murmurs.

“No, baby, no,” Nicole says quickly. Her eyes feel heavy at that thought and she can’t take this punch in the gut from reality. Quickly moving around to the other side of the booth, she slides in next to Waverly and pushes her over. She immediately wraps her arms around Waverly’s shoulders. “We aren’t going to break up.”

“Wouldn’t everything just be so much easier if we did?” Waverly asks, voice strained.

“Ha, well, if I wanted easy then I wouldn’t have fallen in love with the stubbornest person I’ve ever met,” Nicole replies. Waverly slaps her lightly on the chest, but Nicole follows the movement and catches Waverly’s hand over her heart. Sucking in a deep breath, Nicole places a kiss against Waverly’s temple. “I’m not letting you break up with me.”

“Maybe we should be a bit more realistic,” Waverly pleads.

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to be with you,” Nicole replies. She leans back to get a better look at Waverly who seems to be full on crying now, tears sliding down her cheeks but her eyes straying far away from Nicole. Sighing, she hooks a finger beneath Waverly’s chin to lock eyes with her. “Why won’t you trust me, baby? I’m going to figure everything out.”

“You aren’t even getting letters from schools yet,” Waverly says.

The confidence in Nicole’s shoulders balk at this, like Waverly is telling her how shitty her life truly is. She feels frustration at Waverly boil over for truly the first time in their relationship and she fights the urge to snap in return. She sighs and shrugs it off, putting some space between her and Waverly without moving back to the other side of the table. She settles her hands on the table and folds them together, busying them in a wayward attempt to occupy her mind.

It doesn’t work. She keeps thinking about the way her life is falling apart. Her constant over the last few months has been Waverly but despite it all, her fears are really getting the best of her. This isn’t the first Waverly has hinted at these fears, but it’s the first time Nicole has let it get to her. Thankfully, the meal quickly arrives and they eat in silence. Part of her just wants to make all of the anger flow away and sweep it under the rug by reaching out to touch Waverly, but she doesn’t dare make an attempt to ground herself.

She’s still pushing food around her plate when she feels Waverly’s hand on her thigh, squeezing quickly before absently rubbing there. She doesn’t recoil from the touch, but it does frustrate her even more. She ignores the hand on her leg and soon enough Waverly is giving up, retracting her hand before folding into herself.

The waitress comes to collect their plates. Nicole digs her wallet out and hands over her card to pay. When they are alone and the table is cleared, Nicole let’s her frustration roll away and chances a glance at Waverly. It’s a bad decision when she sees the sadness in her demeanor and all she wants to do is embrace Waverly and take away the worries.

She sighs in defeat and snakes an arm around Waverly’s shoulders to pull her into her side. She leans her cheek against the crown of Waverly’s head. She says, “Coach said she wants to talk to me about all of this after the season is over. I haven’t talked to her about what’s going on yet. I don’t know how to tell people, ok? It’s scary. I’m on my own here. I have to make all of these adult choices without adult guidance and the wrong choice can fuck everything up for us.”

She keeps the letters she’s already received a secret as none of the contacts have been from a school Waverly is interested in. She doesn’t know how to make decisions on her own yet, and she doesn’t know if she wants to give Waverly that power. She’s terrified. Waverly is terrified. They’re both scared and they’re going through it together in different ways. She knows it, and Waverly is way smarter than her so she has to know it too.

“What about what I want?” Waverly asks.

“What do you want?” Nicole asks.

Waverly pulls back and opens her mouth to reply, But is interrupted by the server’s presence again. They look at the same time. The server says, “Miss, your card was declined.”

“Shit,” Nicole says, realization hitting her hard. This is a clear message from her parents that she’s on her own. The following words don’t even register and all she can do is nod her head in agreement. Shaking her head, she says, “I don’t-“

“Here,” Waverly interjects, extending her card in their direction. Nicole feels embarrassment coursing through her, a rare feeling that she doesn’t know what to do with. This has never happened to her before. She’s never not been able to provide and she suddenly feels distraught and tired. Once the person leaves them with Waverly’s card, Waverly says, “I get to buy you dinner for once.”

Nicole tries to smile, but it doesn’t happen. She simply feels shocked and mostly confused about what to do next. Should she even bother with college? Her grades can’t possibly good enough for her to get an athletic scholarship large enough to cover her expenses. And a job? What is one of those even? She doesn’t have any experience. Her chest tightens and, oh god, what can she possibly do? The feeling of Waverly’s hand smoothing across her shoulders distracts her for a moment, for a full two minutes before they bring back Waverly’s card and she has to sign it.

Nearly bolting from the restaurant, she sucks in a deep breath of the fresh outside air. It helps a little, but she quickly realizes she is sweating again. She walks quickly to the Jeep, leaving Waverly in her dust, and gets in. Turning it to life before Waverly has even made it to the passenger side.

Waverly doesn’t climb in when she opens the door, just stares at Nicole for a long moment before she says, “Are you ok?”

“Yeah, fine,” Nicole says, “I’m fine. Just tired.”

Waverly relents sadly and climbs in, buckling up so Nicole can drive off. The drive is a long one and they hardly speak. There are so many things up in the air like what Waverly wants, what Nicole can possibly do. She’s freaking out, good and truly, and not even catching sight of Waverly’s fresh tears can bring her back.

The sun is beginning to set when she pulls into the driveway, parking the Jeep behind her own vehicle. They both grab their bags and head into the house, Waverly taking the lead rather quickly. She can feel the tension in the air around them and as the evening carries on, they still aren’t quite talking. She attributes it to Waverly working on homework that she couldn’t do on the ride to the game.

She tells Waverly she’s going to go take a shower and heads to the bathroom upstairs. She spends an extra amount of time in the shower, washing off the game and the embarrassment and everything etching away from her. Knowing she walked out of her parents’ house does nothing to ease the pain of being completely cut off, and it’s fully because she chose to keep dating Waverly. Even though she loves Waverly more than anything, it doesn’t keep the sting of everything happening out.

Her body feels more tired when she exits from the shower, heading into the bedroom where her things barely fit anywhere. Waverly has her books spread across the bed, but she isn’t paying attention to them. She’s crying again and it makes Nicole’s heart ache sympathetically. Signing, Nicole approaches the head of the bed and climbs into it. She’s careful not to disturb Waverly’s books when she stretches across the mattress, sliding up to Waverly’s side.

Leaning heavily against Waverly’s shoulder and wrapping both arms around her waist, she just lets her cry for a few minutes. She spreads her fingers out against Waverly’s stomach, holding her against her chest. Finally she feels some kind of reaction press against her arm, fingertips clinging to her like Waverly’s desperate for the contact.

“This is so hard,” Waverly says, voice strained.

“What’s hard?” Nicole asks, a little confused. She’s already feeling pretty far out on a limb by herself and doesn’t know how to deal with things right now. Overall, she’s reluctant to get into this with Waverly because she knows it really only ends one way.

“Being with you,” Waverly snaps, “You never worry about anything. It always just works out for you exactly how you want it. You haven’t even thought about what college you want to go to. Now we live together and I’m getting kind of used to always being around you. It’s just all happening so fast and I just need it to slow down for one second.”

Nicole sighs and loosens her grasp, leaning back against the pillows behind her. Her silence prompts Waverly to angle her body differently so they are looking at each other. They enter into a stare down and she doesn’t know who is going to crack first. Waverly finally looks away, the tears heavy and falling again.

“Look, baby,” Nicole says, huffing out a puff of air, “I don’t like when you cry. What can I do to make everything better?”

“Be in this with me, Nicole,” she says loudly.

This floors Nicole, lips parting in confusion. She says, “I am in this. I walked away from my cushy life with my parents for you. But that doesn’t mean I have all of the answers. I’m just trying to figure this out. You have to give me time.”

“Time is running out, Nicole,” Waverly says firmly, “And if we can’t figure this out then I don’t know how it’s going to work. I can’t get any more attached to you if we are just going to break up.”

“Stop saying we’re going to break up,” Nicole says, almost yelling. She’s throwing her hands in the air, full exasperation peaking. “You’re being ridiculous! We aren’t breaking up! So just shut up about it and give me a chance to figure everything out. I don’t know what I’m doing and I just need a goddamn minute to figure everything out.”

Waverly stares at her in shock for almost a full minute before she says, “Whatever.”

“Yeah,” Nicole replies, pushing up off of the mattress, “Whatever.”

Without another word between them, Nicole grabs a pillow that she usually uses and goes down stairs. She sets up camp for the night on the couch with the blanket that usually lays across the back of it. She spends a few hours trying to sleep, even occasionally drifting off, but mostly just stares at the ceiling.

There’s a creak somewhere in the room that scares her. She forgets she isn’t as familiar with this house as she was with her own. Heart beating fast, tears making her eyes ache, she has a difficult time looking around for something out of the ordinary.

“Nicole,” Waverly whispers. Nicole sighs, not enough energy to keep going any more tonight. The emotional drainage has left her exhausted. She wonders how she’s even going to make it through school tomorrow. “I can’t sleep.”

“Me neither,” she admits.

A gust of cold air whips at her skin as the blanket is lifted, but she’s instantly warmed when she feels the weight of Waverly press against her body. Her anger and frustration fades away and she wraps her arms around Waverly’s middle as she buries her face in Nicole’s neck. Planting a kiss there, she feels Waverly’s leg slip between her thighs as Waverly gets comfortable.

They lay together like that, quiet for a moment as they silently warm up. Nicole sucks in a deep breath, smelling Waverly’s hair. She says, “We aren’t breaking up. Where you go, I go.”

“You don’t know that,” Waverly whispers.

“Yes, I do,” Nicole replies, “Waves, I think we should get married.”

“What?” Waverly says.

“There are so many benefits to it but, most of all, I already know that I want to spend my life with you,” Nicole answers, “And I’m going to prove to you that you’re my number one.”

“Basketball,” Waverly argues.

“Of course I love basketball, Waves. I’ve spent my entire life working my ass off to play it, but I love you too,” Nicole says. She sighs again, energy leaving her body, and runs her hands along Waverly’s back for just a few seconds. Wordlessly, they shift so they are both on their sides facing each other. “I’ve given a lot of thought to what you said about living with me.”

“Oh yeah?” Waverly asks, voice quiet and a little scared.

“Yeah, and if that’s how you really feel then we really have two options,” Nicole says, pulling back as much as she possibly can to look Waverly in the eye. She can’t see much in the darkness, but she can feel Waverly’s hands clutch at her sides. “We won’t get to live together when we go to college, not unless we get married.”

“What are you saying?” Waverly says. Her voice is a little shaky and Nicole can’t tell if she’s scared or just against it.

“I’ve thought it many times, Waverly. I want to marry you. I’m going to marry you one day. But why do we have to wait to do that?” Nicole says. She lightly rubs her hands over Waverly’s ribs as she leans forward and lightly kisses her forehead. Pushing her knee between Waverly’s legs, she feels Waverly cling to her desperately as the tears seem to transfer to Nicole’s chin. “I’m in love with you, baby. I want to marry you. But I think that if we aren’t going to get married then maybe we should put some distance between us.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says, burying her head into her chest, “I’m scared.”

“I’m scared, too,” she murmurs.

Not saying anything else, they just hold each other tightly. Nicole honestly can’t tell what this is, whether it’s a sign of the end or if it’s a hope for the rest of their lives. She’s too afraid to ask. So she just lets herself drift off to sleep with Waverly in her arms, praying that it isn’t the last time.

|

The air between them over the last few days has been thick. They’ve done a really good job of only talking about the bare minimum. She doesn’t really want to pressure Waverly anyway, especially since she basically gave an ultimatum. Overall, she can tell that everyone else notices that something is off with them. They aren’t as touchy as usual, in part because she doesn’t want to initiate contact after their conversation. She can even feel that something as off at night when they’re laying in bed.

The second round of the tournament, all of the cheerleaders accompany them to cheer on since the boys lost first round. She’s back to sitting beside Waverly, wondering what she could possibly say or do to just clear the air between them. Maybe she’s said the wrong thing. Or, perhaps, maybe Waverly now feels trapped.

Sighing, she leans into the corner of the seat against the window, foot propped up on the tire round of the encasing. Waverly must take notice because she’s glancing over her shoulder at Nicole. She says, “I don’t want to be a distraction from you playing.”

“Well,” Nicole shrugs, “You are. All of this has me a little worried, if I’m being honest.”

“Why?” Waverly asks.

Nicole chances a look around to see if anyone is snooping on their conversation. Looking at Waverly, she feels all of the tension creep to her edges and peel away at her facade. Tears gather and all she wants to do is just say fuck it, run away from every feelings she’s ever felt.

“Because,” she says, lowering her voice, “I meant what I said. If you, you know, do then I’m going to do my best to take care of you. I’m trying here, but I just feel like you’re shutting me out.”

“I’m not shutting you out, Nicole. This is just a big deal,” Waverly replies.

She huffs, clearly annoyed, and Nicole nearly recoils. Every conversation they’ve tried to have has had just enough underlying hostility that she hasn’t been interested in continuing, but the lack of communication is really starting to spread her thin. At this point, she doesn’t even know what else to say.

“Yeah,” Nicole breathes.

“I don’t want to break up,” Waverly says.

“Stop,” Nicole says loud enough that people start looking at them, “Stop fucking saying that.”

“Nicole,” Waverly chastises, “Be quiet. Please.”

“Every time I try to have a conversation about this that’s all you say,” Nicole replies, “It just sucks.”

“I know,” Waverly softly agrees. The silence takes over them again, but this time she feels Waverly reach over, threading their fingers together. Waverly’s body follows as she leans heavily against Nicole’s side. “I’m just scared. What if we want to go to different colleges?”

“We will figure it out together,” Nicole says, “Just give me some time.”

For the first time in a few days, she doesn’t feel like everything sucks. She switches the hand that’s holding Waverly’s and wraps an arm around her shoulders. Snuggling closely, Nicole can feel a shift in the space between them as Waverly’s desperation seeps out and clings to her.

They sit like that, slightly uncomfortably, until they arrive at the school where the next round of tournament games are being held. The game is over in a flash. The cheerleaders loud and proud as Nicole and her teammates make enough baskets to take home the win. Still, it leaves Nicole feeling a little beat up and exhausted so when they get home, she takes a shower and crawls into bed.

Nicole falls asleep quickly, even without Waverly there, but when she crawls into bed some time later it wakes Nicole up. Rolling over onto her back, she feels Waverly slide an arm around her waist and rest on her shoulder. The weight of Waverly pressed against her feels nice and she only holds her closer.

She has a difficult time falling back to sleep, but she can tell by Waverly’s breathing that she isn’t asleep either. Reaching down, she wraps a hand around the back of Waverly’s knee and pulls her leg closer. She can feel the skin contact and it makes her press as close as humanly possible.

“I hate fighting with you,” Nicole murmurs.

“I hate it too,” Waverly replies. She lifts a finger and begins to draw shapes on Nicole’s upper arm. She huffs and adds, “I’m sorry I’m a jerk.”

“No, it’s ok,” Nicole says, sighing heavier than she means to, “I get it. We’re young. How can we know what we want for the rest of our lives? But I know I’ve only ever been sure of two things: basketball and you. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” Waverly says. Her hand smooths over Nicole’s torso, coming to a stop on her stomach. Hot tears stick to Nicole’s neck and she swallows thickly. “I’m so scared that at the end of this, I’m going to lose you.”

“You won’t,” Nicole reassures, “I’m going to whatever school you want as long as I can get in. I just want us to be together. I want to live with you. I want you for as long as you’ll have me.”

“Getting married won’t solve all of our problems,” Waverly says, voice straining through tears.

“Hey, I know that,” Nicole says softly. She can’t stop herself now. She shuffles around until she’s hovering over Waverly, looking down at her in the darkness. She lightly shakes her head and says, “I don’t want to marry you because it’ll solve our problems. I want to marry you because we’re meant to be together. Because I want us to fix our problems together. Because when we leave here and go off to college I want to keep living with you. Because I want to tell everyone that you’re my wife. I don’t want anyone else, Waves. I want you and I want to go through this journey with you.”

“Nicole,” Waverly says, choking on air.

“I want it to be real,” Nicole says, leaning her forehead against Waverly’s, “No more promise rings. I want them to be the real thing.”

Waverly stares deep into her eyes for nearly a full minute and Nicole feels exposed. Slowly, she feels Waverly arch against her, her stomach pressing against Nicole’s, before their lips touch. Nicole doesn’t quite know how to interpret it other than this feels like the first time they’ve kissed in days.

They kiss until they’re both gasping for air.

Nicole’s pretty sure her ears are ringing and she doesn’t hear Waverly correctly when she says, “God, I don’t know how I’m going to tell Gus and Curtis.”

|

They discuss college so much that Nicole is ready to call the entire college thing off. She knows now that Waverly doesn’t necessarily have a dream school and is willing to explore a few options. Nicole, however, honestly doesn’t care about school as much as she cares about the basketball team.

Of course, her own basketball team easily wins the next round of the tournament. More scouts talk to her but she just hears what they have to say without giving much commitment to them. She refuses to make any decisions without Waverly hearing any of them, especially now.

The game is hosted just a half hour away from home so they make it back pretty early. When they pull into the driveway they notice that Gus and Curtis are back. Waverly had corresponded with them while they were away, but that didn’t stop the customary parental line of questioning regarding grades and such. They do take some time out to ask Nicole how the tournament is going and profusely congratulate her on a job well done.

It’s a little weird having Gus and Curtis back after being alone for the last week. They have to be quiet and remain aware that they share space with other people. They can’t even stay up late to talk without having to keep their voices down.

After they take their respective showers and do their homework, they climb into bed. Nicole gets settled laying closer to the middle before Waverly tries. She circles her arm around Nicole’s middle and nuzzles into the crevices of her neck, nose sliding across her throat.

“Everything ok, baby?” Nicole asks

“Yeah,” Waverly breathes. The wandering hands against Nicole’s skin skate a smooth path across her stomach, up her chest, across her shoulder, down her arm, and settles with her fingers between Nicole’s. Waverly presses a kiss against her skin. She says, “Everything’s perfect.”

“You know what’s really nice?” Nicole asks.

The darkness is surrounding them. They can’t hear Gus and Curtis anymore and she thinks that maybe they finally went to bed. She squeezes Waverly to her side and rests her cheek against the crown of her head. They won’t stay like this for long, but while they can stay comfortable in this position she enjoys it.

“What?” Waverly says.

“When I’m out on the court,” Nicole starts. She feels Waverly’s body shift slightly and her knee settles between Nicole’s thighs, now laying half on top of her. Sucking in a deep breath, Nicole turns her head and place a kiss to Waverly’s forehead. “Sometimes I can only hear you cheering me on. It’s kind of magical.”

“Nicole Haught,” Waverly whispers, “You are a hopeless romantic. Did you know that?”

Shrugging, Nicole burrows her head into her pillow and says, “Maybe you just bring it out in me.”

“I didn’t know you could hear me,” Waverly hums. Nicole feels it on her skin, a warmth filling her after the short period where they were fighting. It felt endless. What was going on for days felt like months. “Am I that loud?”

“You use your sexy cheerleading voice,” Nicole murmurs. Waverly pushes her hand flat against Nicole’s stomach. There’s a warmth beneath Waverly’s palm that itches against the material of her shirt before the hand slips beneath her shirt. “It’s loud and commanding.”

“Oh sexy? Is that what it is?” Waverly asks.

They laugh softly. Their laughter tumbles out late into the night and there’s no doubt that at times they are too loud, but Nicole watches Waverly fall asleep with a smile. That makes it all worth it.


	18. Double

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of State weekend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the thing here is that this is part 1/2 for State weekend. It's possibly together the best set of chapters throughout the entire fic. The downside is that I don't know what my plans are next week just YET so I don't know if I will be able to update. I am very sorry about that. Your feedback, however, is very important to me so please let me know what you like. I am also currently taking ideas for some things you might like to see when they go off to college.

They settle into their routine now that Gus and Curtis are back and they win their next tournament game, taking them to the final. The final is on Saturday in the big city and the players and cheerleaders bus in on Friday night for the afternoon game. The hotel is bumbling with people because the state all-star game is later in the day, which Nicole is playing in. It’s going to be a rather long weekend as the planned festivities for Saturday don’t end until nearly 9pm.

They have it all figured out. A series of room switches will easily land them in the same bed, although there’s a chance that Chrissy might not manage a room trade. She’s on the outs with Stephanie, again, not that Nicole particularly blames her because Stephanie is basically the worst. She’s always had an attitude about her that leaves a bad taste in Nicole’s mouth, especially because they come from the same background. She gets that Nicole can be a bit of a dick, but she at least thinks she’s never been outright mean.

The bus ride feels obnoxiously long given that no one seems focused on game preparation. They are simply a day early so they have a little time to goof off before getting down to business, and everyone is already in full force. As much as Nicole appreciates Gus and Curtis coming through for her, she can’t wait to get a break from them. They’ve only been back for 5 days and she’s already wishing she had Waverly all to herself.

When they get to the hotel, it’s packed with the other team in the final and a horde of players participating in the All-Star festivities. Coach Lucado is squaring away rooms. They received their assignments at practice the previous day and although she gave Nicole a pointed look, Nicole absolutely did not intend to abide by the assignment. Which she’s pretty certain Lucado knows.

While handing out the keys to rooms, Coach looks her directly in the eye and says, “Team meeting in thirty minutes, in the conference room.”

Nicole takes her assigned room key but follows Waverly to her assigned room anyway. Once they enter, she dumps her bags in a corner and stretches while she stands on the tips of her toes. Waverly circles her arms around Nicole’s middle and, as she lowers herself back to the ground, Nicole leaves a kiss to her lips.

“Gross,” Chrissy mutters, “Don’t you, like, live together?”

“So,” Waverly replies defensively. Nicole grins.

“Aren’t you tired of each other?” Chrissy says.

“Hm,” Nicole arms, wrapping her arms around Waverly’s shoulders and holding her close, “Not yet, I’m afraid.”

“Well, give it a rest,” Chrissy says, gagging for dramatic effect. Nicole immediately takes this as a challenge to annoy Chrissy all weekend. Smoothing her hands down Waverly’s back, she keeps her girlfriend in place so she can’t move away at Chrissy’s request. Nicole also leans down to place a chaste kiss against the skin just below Waverly’s ear. “Geez, you two are ridiculous.”

“Hush, you,” Waverly commands, wagging a finger at Chrissy before turning her attention back to Nicole, “And you, keep doing that.”

Chuckling softly, she places a trail of kisses to Waverly’s jaw as Chrissy groans loudly. Nicole hears the bed squeak and when she looks up she sees that Chrissy has dramatically thrown herself back on the bed. With a sigh, Chrissy says, “I don’t want to put up with you two lovebirds all weekend.”

“Awe,” Waverly hums. Nicole lets Waverly slip from her grasp but feels a tug on her hand as her girlfriend moves closer to the bed Chrissy is laying back on. Nicole quirks an eyebrow, watching Waverly as she lays on the bed beside Chrissy. Finally letting go of Nicole, she wraps an arm around Chrissy’s middle and says, “We love you, too.”

“Yeah,” Nicole agrees, picking up on Waverly’s gesture. She slips onto the bed behind Waverly and wraps her arm around both of them. Resting her chin on Waverly’s shoulder, she peers at Chrissy with a grin. “We love you.”

“Are you trying to get me to be in a thruple?” Chrissy asks, “Because I fear you two can’t stop looking at each other long enough to remember you have another person.”

“You know who you sound like?” Waverly says.

“Wynonna,” Nicole finishes, “You sound like Wynonna.”

“Whatever,” Chrissy grumbles. Threading her fingers with Waverly’s, Nicole places a quick kiss to Waverly’s cheek while squeezing her hand. She sweeps her thumb across the back of Waverly’s knuckle. “Don’t you have somewhere to be, Haught?”

“Yeah,” Nicole says. She sighs in Waverly’s ear before placing a kiss against her cheek. When she pulls back, Waverly moves with her and comes to a rest on her back as Nicole stands upright. She looks down at Waverly with a smile before leaning over to kiss her on the mouth. “I’ll be back shortly. I love you, baby.”

“Love you, too,” Waverly murmurs.

By the time Nicole is leaving the hotel room, Waverly is cuddled up to Chrissy and they are chatting about something Nicole doesn’t quite get. She can’t hear them clearly, but she would guess that it probably makes no difference to her anyway. She makes it downstairs to the conference room with a few minutes to spare. Not even all of her team has arrived. She pretends to be interested in their conversation topics but she almost pays no attention to them. She’s learned that after spending so much time with Waverly that she prefers intellectual conversation or the lovey chatter that she can’t have with anyone else.

The meeting goes by quickly. It’s a pep talk like Coach Lucado normally gives but more pointed. She makes a few comments about how this is Nicole’s last high school game with the rest of the team. This really makes her blush, especially when she realizes that everyone else is looking at her, but she shrugs it off. She’s always been good at basketball so she’s used to everyone looking at her.

Her assigned roommate sends her a wink when Coach lets them go, but before she can get very far she’s asking Nicole to hang back. When they’re alone, she goes over a few things with Nicole. Coach Lucado says she’s proud of her, that she sees the direction Nicole is going, then hands over 5 sealed envelopes with her name on it. She looks over the front to see what they might be, but Coach distracts her before her brain can register them.

She heads back upstairs but by the time she arrives, Waverly is alone on the bed closest to the window. She’s looking at her phone and doesn’t look up when Nicole enters. Setting the envelopes aside on the tv stand, she kicks off her shoes and crawls into the bed beside Waverly.

As though on instinct, Waverly opens her arms and lets Nicole settle into them. She rests her head on Waverly’s shoulder and wraps an arm around her waist. She peeks at Waverly’s phone, the screen blaring a text conversation between her and Wynonna.

“Coach gave me something,” Nicole finally says when there’s a lull between their texts.

“She did?” Waverly asks. Locking her phone and placing it on the nightstand between the beds, she fully turns her attention to Nicole. She feels Waverly slip both hands beneath the hem of her shirt and skim her palms across Nicole’s stomach, now facing her entirely. “What did she give you?”

“I didn’t open them,” Nicole says, “I was kind of waiting for you.”

“Do you want to open them now?” Waverly asks.

“We can wait,” Nicole replies. She presses her forehead against Waverly’s and lets it rest there for a moment. Her eyes drift closed as she makes room in her memories for this moment. “We kind of need to decide what we want.”

“Well,” Waverly hums, pushing a hand around to the small of Nicole’s back, “What do you want?”

“I want you,” Nicole says quickly.

“I know that,” Waverly says, chuckling politely, “But, like, where do you want to live?”

“I think it would be kind of cool to live somewhere warm,” Nicole says with a shrug, “I know how cold you get and it would also be nice to be able to go to the beach.”

“You already get too hot now,” Waverly reminds her, “And I like cuddling with you. It’s...nice.”

“Yeah, I like it, too,” Nicole agrees. Leaning forward slowly, she kisses Waverly lazily. It lingers but doesn’t deepen as though it’s just a pointed moment between them. “But we can’t decide on where to go to school based on our cuddling habits.”

At this, Nicole pulls back a bit to look Waverly in the eye. She lifts a hand to Waverly’s hair and brushes her fingers through out. Giving Waverly a big, encouraging smile, she says, “What’s your dream school?”

“I don’t much mind the cold, baby,” Waverly hums, “Plus, you always keep me warm. All I want is a good school and you.”

“I’ll keep you warm,” Nicole says. Her voice is low and her intent is clear. Truthfully, the feeling of Waverly’s hands about her stomach and back has distracted her mind from really making any headway about their future. When she looks fully at her girlfriend, she sees that Waverly is absently running her tongue along her bottom lip and nodding slowly. “I want you.”

“Yeah,” Waverly says. Her hands slide against Nicole’s skin and come to a stop against her ribcage. Waverly slips a leg between Nicole’s knees and smiles up through her eyelashes. “You’re the most important person in the world to me, Nicole.”

“Hey,” Nicole hums, pushing a finger against Waverly’s chin to look directly into her eyes, “Are we or are we not getting married?”

“We are,” Waverly says, “I’m just scared to tell them. What if they say no?”

“It’s ok, baby,” Nicole says, “We’ll figure it out.”

“I’ve been dragging my feet on it,” Waverly replies.

“Hey,” Nicole reassures, “I’m not going anywhere. Come ‘ere.”

Pulling Waverly closer, Nicole kisses her softly. Nicole drags her hand down Waverly’s front and pushes against her hip. With a gentle squeeze against the bone, the kiss deepens and their tongues touch. As they’re kissing the door pops open and Chrissy returns.

“Seriously?” She groans. They pull apart, both breathing heavily, and Nicole can’t help but sigh. Waverly’s nails dig into her skin as she cuddles into her chest, hiding embarrassment from her friend. “I was only gone for like ten minutes.”

She settles her chin on the crown of Waverly’s head while managing to wrap both arms around her girlfriend. She shrugs and gives Chrissy a smirk. Nicole says, “I’m just a great kisser.”

“So I’ve heard,” Chrissy says as she flops back onto her own bed.

“Hey,” Waverly whines.

“Sorry,” Chrissy says defensively, “Just, it’s a small town. People talk.”

“What,” Waverly starts. She rolls away from Nicole’s chest and turns to face Chrissy. Nicole keeps her arm tucked around Waverly’s waist and pulls her tighter, holding her with a content feeling coursing through her. “What do people say about us?”

“Not much anymore,” Chrissy says, “At first people thought it wasn’t going to work for...obvious reasons, but now you’re just disgusting.”

“We’re getting married,” Nicole hears Waverly say.

Her eyes widen as her brain soaks them in. Realizing that it’s the first time either of them have really said it out loud makes her feel like it’s even more real than before. Waverly threads her fingers through hers, the rings on their fingers clicking together.

“You told Chrissy,” Nicole says.

“Wait,” Chrissy interjects, “You’re getting married? Does anyone else know?”

“Not exactly,” Waverly admits, “I’m like, just waiting for things to settle down before I tell Gus and Curtis. And to come up with a plan.”

“Oh so it isn’t like etched into stone?” Chrissy asks. Nicole looks over at her and she’s sitting up now, leaning back against the headboard. She seems to be totally into the conversation and delving deeper. Nicole’s phone goes off and she digs it out of her pocket to look. “Like, it’s not a done deal?”

“Oh no,” Nicole says forcefully, “It’s happening.”

“Baby,” Waverly warns, “You don’t have to...”

“Are you guys hungry?” Nicole asks, looking at the message on her phone, “Apparently everyone wants to go grab a bite to eat.”

They all agree to go get some food. It requires Nicole putting her shoes back on and running a hand through her hair, Waverly to dig out her brush and give her own hair a once over, and Chrissy to do a quick change of clothing. Once they make it out of the hotel room, they head down to the lobby where everyone else is congregating.

The conversation topic is, thankfully, avoided while they’re around the masses. Waverly is slightly clingier than usual, not that anyone else can really notice because they always seem very clingy compared to most, but it’s the way she gets when they don’t always 100% agree on something and it goes immediately unaddressed. Nicole doesn’t really mind it, especially since the nanosecond she wasn’t in the lobby she felt like there were too many other girls staring at her.

By the time they get to the restaurant, everyone has separated off into cliques. They’re shown to a room where basically everyone in their party can choose their seat. Nicole and Waverly choose a booth and sit on one side while everybody else takes their seats. Nicole spots Chrissy sitting at a table with a few of her teammates, Megan and Rachel, and Stephanie.

“Are you hungry?” Nicole asks.

“I’m a little hungry,” Waverly answers.

They look through the menu for something, anything, that Waverly can eat. The menu is limited on her vegan options but they finally find something. They’ll just split it so they can save the money Curtis gave them when they left. They do have to make it last the entire weekend and even though Waverly has a lot saved up, doesn’t mean she needs to be using it all. They push the menu aside and Waverly leans heavily against her, hand settling on her stomach and scratching lightly. Smirking, Nicole turns to face Waverly and drapes her arm on the back of the seat.

“Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” Waverly asks.

“I’m not really that hungry so it’s probably smarter to share,” Nicole answers.

“No,” Waverly says. She chuckles and cups Nicole’s face in her hands. Waverly leans forward and places a kiss against her lips, chaste and warm. Her hands slide down Nicole’s chest so she reaches up and wraps a hand around Waverly’s. “You and me deciding to get married.”

“Absolutely,” Nicole replies without hesitation, “I know that we’re supposed to spend our life together and I don’t want to wait to do that.”

“Yeah,” Waverly says, a dreamy look coming to her face, “You’re right.”

Nicole grins and looks down at their hands. Her gaze gets stuck on the ring on Waverly’s finger, slid exactly into the place Nicole wants it to be. Thinking of what it looks like, she lifts Waverly’s hand to her mouth and places a kiss against her knuckles.

“I’m sure about you, baby,” Nicole says, “I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”

“So we’re gonna do this?” Waverly asks. Letting go of Waverly’s hand, Nicole leans forward and kisses Waverly softly. By the time she pulls back, Waverly is grasping her hand and smiling so wide that the sun shines through. “We’re doing this.”

“Man, I really am a great kisser,” Nicole says with a smirk.

“Oh my god,” Waverly mumbles, smiling nonetheless.

“Don’t make me sit between you two,” Chrissy says, sliding into the booth across from them, “You could like not suck face so we can all keep our meals down.”

“You’re just jealous,” Waverly says. Nicole watches her and Chrissy get into a battle of sticking their tongues out at each other. In fact, she’s a little confused and her mouth gapes open. Finally, Waverly sighs and pulls Nicole’s arm from the back of the seat to wrap around her shoulders. “My baby’s the best.”

“You used to hate each other,” Chrissy reminds them.

“Did not,” Nicole says quickly, “I just thought she was a goody two shoes.”

“Hey,” Waverly says.

“You were! You never came to parties and you’re a total nerd,” Nicole says.

“You’re a nerd too,” Waverly points out, “And don’t act like you aren’t. I know you.”

“No arguments,” Nicole says, “But I’m also cool.”

“Fine,” Chrissy interjects, “But you definitely hated Nicole.”

“Chrissy!”

“Oh, you hated me, baby? Is that so?” Nicole asks, quirking an eyebrow. Waverly gives her a sheepish look and sighs. Nicole knows one thing: when Waverly avoids eye contact she’s embarrassed and a little bit afraid of what’s going to happen next. Lovingly, she drags a hand through Waverly’s hair and says, “You don’t hate me now.”

“No,” Waverly says, turning a smile towards Nicole, “I know the real you. You’re totally nothing like that jerk you used to be. Why are you trying to get me into so much trouble, Chrissy?”

“I’m not!” Chrissy says, lifting her hands in defeat.

“No, hey,” Nicole says calmly, “When we started, on paper, there’s no reason we should have worked. But then I got to know you and you are like everything that another person could want in a partner. You scared me.”

“I scared you?” Waverly asks, gaze narrowing on Nicole, “You were the scary one.”

“Nah,” Nicole says with a grin, “I don’t have that many great qualities but you, everybody loves you, Waves. You’re kind of a big deal.”

“You’re a big deal,” Waverly repeats.

“Gross,” Chrissy mutters, “Ok, I get it. You’re more in love with each other than you’ve ever been with anyone else. You two are gross. You deserve each other.”

“Thank you,” Nicole says.

Before the conversation can go anywhere else, Stephanie and the server come over to their table. Things seem to be better between Stephanie and Chrissy and, not surprisingly, she’s got a little weird crush on Nicole so she won’t say anything to Waverly in front of her. Waverly sits in the interim back against the wall, but a leg draped over Nicole’s knee while the cheerleaders all chat about something regarding their routine. At one point, Nicole becomes intrigued and gives Waverly a look that silently asks her if she gets a private showing.

“No,” Waverly says quickly.

“Come on,” Nicole begs, reaching out to run a hand along Waverly’s thigh, “I won’t tell anyone.”

Waverly pushes at her biceps but only manages to actually squeeze them tighter. She says, “There’s not enough room.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Nicole replies with a smirk. She tugs at Waverly’s thigh and pulls her closer. A hand settles on Waverly’s ass and she leans closer, pressing a chaste kiss to an exposed collarbone. “Trust me. Just say yes.”

“Fine,” Waverly finally agrees.

“Sucker,” Chrissy says.

Stephanie manages both a laugh and a scowl at the same time. Waverly shoots Stephanie a glare. Nicole feels slightly annoyed that she’s stuck with all of this cheerleader drama, but when Waverly kisses her jaw the annoyance fades a bit. Waverly’s hands stay on her, scratching at her thigh and rubbing at her shoulder, until the food comes and they have to put some space between them. Not too much though. While her finger was broken she has mastered the art of eating left handed so they share the one plate.

They finish eating and after everyone settles their checks they bus back to the hotel. A number of her teammates and cheerleaders decide to go to the pool so everyone heads back up to their rooms. Nicole throws herself onto the bed the moment they get to the room while Chrissy digs in her bag for her bathing suit. Waverly is back to texting with Wynonna so she settles into the space beside Nicole, pressing her back to Nicole’s side and resting her head on her arm. Brunette locks tickle her face but she turns her body to curl around Waverly anyway.

They lay quietly as Waverly texts her sister. A huff falls out of her girlfriend’s mouth every once and awhile, and when this happens Nicole just brushes a hand through Waverly’s hair. Every time this happens, Waverly pushes herself back into Nicole and rests more weight against her front.

“You guys aren’t ready,” Chrissy says when she exits the bathroom.

“We’ll be down in a little bit,” Waverly answers.

Chrissy pouts and says, “Don’t ditch me, you guys.”

“We won’t,” Nicole assures, “I promise. We’ll come down.”

After dating Waverly for nearly 4 months, she’s spent her fair share of time with Chrissy. She would even consider Chrissy a friend at this point. She gives Chrissy a smile and a small nod. Chrissy’s frown slowly fades.

“Ok,” Chrissy groans, “Just don’t do it on my bed.”

“Ew!” Waverly yells. She locks her phone and places it on the nightstand. Sighing dramatically, Waverly picks up a pillow and throws it at Chrissy. “You’re gross.”

“You’re gross,” Chrissy yells back, only barely dodging the pillow, “Bye!”

“Bye!” Waverly says.

The door clicks behind Chrissy as she leaves. Waverly immediately reaches for Nicole’s hand and threads their fingers together, tucking their hands against her stomach. She doesn’t say anything else, just lays back against Nicole’s chest. She sneaks a peek at Waverly’s face and sees her eyes closed, frown on her mouth.

“Everything ok, baby?” Nicole asks, pressing a kiss against Waverly’s arm where it meets her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Waverly hums, “Wynonna just said her and Mama are coming home next week. I’m scared of what they’re going to say.”

“Baby,” Nicole replies, squeezing Waverly’s hand. She curls her other arm around Waverly, hugging her tightly. “I love you so much. I’m gonna do everything I can to convince whoever it takes that I’ll take care of you.”

“You’re amazing, you know that?” Waverly says, turning slightly to look her in the face.

“It took someone really special to show me that I don’t have to be alone,” Nicole says, shaking Waverly softly in her arms, “I’m not letting you get away that easily.”

Waverly moves out of her arms. She protests quietly but is quickly hushed by Waverly hovering over her, pushing at her chest and straddling her waist. Waverly’s hair floats off of her shoulder and crashes in a curtain like manner as she clutches Nicole’s hand.

She pulls it up to the space between them and peers at her over it, saying, “Nicole Rayleigh Haught, will you marry me?”

A lump gathers in her throat. Despite her having said that’s what she wants many times and Waverly agreeing, she still isn’t expecting it. Waverly’s pulling at the ring on her finger. She swallows through the haze and curls her fingers to keep her from taking it off.

“You’re asking me to marry you?” Nicole murmurs, tears gathering her eyes.

“Yeah, I am,” Waverly says. She lets go of Nicole’s hand and presses both of them to her ribcage, balancing carefully. Her fingers tickle and it makes Nicole squirm. Waverly smiles sheepishly and moves her entire body to slip her hands beneath Nicole’s shirt. “You make me feel so loved. I don’t want to be without you.”

“You won’t,” Nicole reassures. She wraps both hands around Waverly’s respective wrists, holding her hands in place. “Kiss me already.”

“You’re needy,” Waverly says with a laugh.

She complies anyway, leaning forward and placing her lips on Nicole’s. Moving her hands up to Waverly’s jaw, she depends the kiss and pushes harder. Her fingers press into the back of Waverly’s neck, flitting her tongue out against slightly parted lips. Waverly trickles her fingers along Nicole’s skin, pushing her shirt up her torso. The cold air presses against her exposed skin and she arches up into Waverly’s touch.

Moving her hands down the length of Waverly, she settles them on her thighs. She squeezes at Waverly’s muscles, her knees bracketing Nicole’s hips, and she feels all of the air evade her lungs. Her mind is reeling and she hasn’t taken a breath in so long that she pulls back for one. Waverly slides down, pressing kisses against her throat and continuing the trail down to her stomach. She feels Waverly’s hands skate to the waist of her pants and pop the button before moving the zipper down.

“Is this ok?” Waverly asks as she presses a kiss just above Nicole’s hip.

“Of course it’s ok,” Nicole replies. She lifts a hand to the crown of Waverly’s head and lightly scratches at her scalp, silently encouraging her. “I like the way that feels.”

“Yeah?” Waverly asks, pausing to look up at Nicole with a triumphant smile.

Nicole pushes herself up on her elbows and looks down at her. Even then, Waverly pushes at her pants until Nicole assists and lifts her hips from the bed. Waverly gets shy for a moment, so Nicole relaxes on her elbow and reaches out to grab Waverly’s arm. She tugs but Waverly simply places a kiss to the left of her belly button.

“Hey, baby,” Nicole says softly, “We don’t have to.”

“Hush,” Waverly says, “We’re doing this.”

“Ok ok,” Nicole says, holding her hands up in defeat, “You do whatever you want.”

“Thank you,” Waverly says, smiling wide.

Waverly continues with her kisses, mouth wet and warm against Nicole’s skin. Nicole calms her nerves and lays back, letting Waverly continue. She hasn’t done this yet. She’s wanted to, but hasn’t. Nicole doesn’t blame her. It’s a lot. In fact, she hasn’t been on the receiving end of this but once or twice so she’s a little nervous too.

The weight on her middle shifts as Waverly moves off of her and peels Nicole’s jeans off, tossing them into the floor. Waverly pauses here and Nicole watches as she ties her hair up loosely. The adorable way she’s getting that determined look on her face make Nicole fall a little deeper in love. Waverly’s hands go back to her ribcage as she pushes her knee between Nicole’s thighs, pressing down to kiss her deeply.

The kiss is hard but quick, a determined Waverly parting them this time. Nicole barely has any time to think before her underwear is being tugged off and tossed aside. Waverly places a hand on either knee and parts her legs, hand quickly sliding down a thigh before pushing into her middle.

“You’re so wet,” Waverly comments.

“Yeah,” Nicole hums. Of course she’s turned on. Waverly is hot and she has a huge effect on her. She swallows and nods slowly. Waverly retracts her hand before bending down and placing a few kisses against her thighs. When Waverly’s mouth finally meets her center, Nicole’s body nearly jerks away at the shock of it. She mutters, “Oh, Jesus.”

Waverly presses her tongue against Nicole’s clit, licking vigorously and causing Nicole to quickly move towards the edge. Waverly drags her nails against Nicole’s skin, pressing them in a little harshly before she releases her hold. As she runs her tongue against Nicole’s middle, she feels Waverly slip a digit into her and begin to move in and out.

“Waves,” she breathes out. She feels her stomach tighten, her body on the edge of giving out. She moans loudly, louder than ever before, and her throat feels raw as it sounds a little abnormal at the end. “I’m gonna come.”

This doesn’t deter Waverly. In fact, it drives her movements forward until Nicole is feeling the muscles inside of her contract harder than they ever have. She lays breathless as Waverly withdraws her hand and licks slowly. Finally, her body can’t take it anymore so she reaches down and runs a hand through Waverly’s hair as she sits up.

“Hey,” Nicole says softly, dropping her hands beneath Waverly’s chin and pulling her upwards. Waverly huffs in dissatisfaction when she’s pulled away, but Nicole quickly kisses Waverly hard. She tastes herself on Waverly’s lips and it’s a little weird, but Waverly kisses her so eagerly that she doesn’t care. She says into Waverly’s mouth, “Damn, I get to call you my wife.”

Waverly laughs and presses another kiss against her mouth, bracketing Nicole’s thigh. Their kisses draw lazier and lazier. Waverly moans into her mouth every now and again.

“Baby,” Waverly finally whispers, sounding out of breath, “Please.”

Waverly grabs her hand and pushes it into her pants. Nicole circles her index finger around Waverly’s clit, the movements fast enough that Waverly starts panting against her cheek. Waverly comes with a scream loud enough that Nicole hopes no one is in the rooms next door. As she comes down, Nicole lays a few kisses on her jaw until they’re both breathing more evenly.

“Gotta get dressed,” Nicole says, patting Waverly’s ass. With a pout, Waverly climbs off of her and goes to her bag to grab her bathing suit. Nicole watches for a moment before she follows. “You know what we can do when we’re married and have a place to ourselves?”

“What?” Waverly asks.

“Walk around naked,” Nicole answers with a wink. Waverly laughs before heading off to the bathroom to change. Nicole finds her own bathing suit and changes into it. Waverly comes out in only her bathing suit and Nicole stares at her. “You’re so hot.”

“We make a really hot couple,” Waverly says.

“Damn right we do,” Nicole replies.

She gives Waverly a chaste kiss as she approaches. They both put on a few more things from their bags. Waverly a pair of very short shorts and a cropped t-shirt. Nicole finds a pair of joggers and a tank top. They head down to the pool where everyone else seems to be. Chrissy is excited to see them, but she seems to be a little tipsy.

After about 15 minutes of chatting, they finally decide to get into the pool. The water is cold so Nicole swims over to where Waverly leans against the side of the pool to chat with her friends. Nicole wraps her arms around Waverly’s middle and stays behind her. The conversation starts to trickle off and Nicole takes this moment to lift Waverly a little off of the ground and pull her towards the middle of the pool.

They swim around for a few minutes before they decide to move to the hot tub with Chrissy, Stephanie, Megan and a few of her teammates. Thankfully Jen is there too to keep her company. It takes some convincing, but everyone finally agrees to play truth or dare to which Waverly throws out some stipulations that she nor Nicole are doing anything sexual with anyone else in any way, shape or form. Nicole silently decides to take truth whenever it’s her turn.

There are a few wild dares that go on before either of them are asked. Nicole says truth and after some long bout of thought, Jen finally has a question. She says, “What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?”

“Hm,” Nicole hums, glancing at Waverly, “Well, we had sex in the hallway at an away game.”

“Oh my god,” Waverly screeches. She immediately turns into Nicole and hides her face. Nicole leans her head against Waverly’s for a moment before she pulls back and looks Nicole in the eye. “Why would you tell them that?”

“It was a truth!” Nicole argues, “Besides, that was the day I broke my finger and I was kind of out of commission for a minute.”

“Don’t lie,” Waverly says, “That did not stop you.”

“Now who is telling everyone about our sex life?” Nicole teases her.

“Whatever,” Waverly huffs playfully, “Next.”

Before the next round starts, Shae comes over and joins them. They hang out for a little while longer before they get out and dry off. They really all have an early start the next morning anyway. It takes nearly 10 minutes to coax Chrissy upstairs and she passes out almost immediately. Nicole grabs her under garments while Waverly gets a whole new attire and they both go into the bathroom. They change quietly in the small space and when they’re done, Waverly’s grabs her hand and pulls her back into the bedroom. After Waverly sets an alarm, they crawl into bed and fall asleep easily.


	19. Field Goal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of State weekend really lets them get out some anger

When Nicole wakes up to the sound of the alarm, Waverly is tucked under her chin and both of her arms are circled around her. Part of her doesn’t understand how Waverly can sleep like that, how she can breathe with her face pressed into Nicole’s chest while her hands clutch at her shirt. She silences the alarm and pulls back to place a kiss against Waverly’s forward.

“Baby,” she whispers, trying not to wake Chrissy too, “I’m going to shower.”

Waverly groans as Nicole moves, clutching the front of her shirt tighter in her grasp. With a pouty sigh, Nicole grabs Waverly’s hands and peels her off. The absence of her body next to Waverly’s doesn’t keep her from curling around a pillow and burrowing deeper into the blankets. Nicole quickly showers and gets ready, returning to the room to see Waverly and Chrissy are both still asleep. She checks the time before crawling back onto the bed, waking Waverly with kisses along her jaw.

“Wake up, baby,” Nicole says, “We have to be downstairs in forty-five minutes.”

With a groan, Waverly rolls over and throws her arms around Nicole’s neck. Waverly leans up and Nicole peppers her face in kisses. The attempts to wake Waverly up seem successful as she giggles. The giggles seem to make Chrissy stir.

“Really?” Chrissy groans, “First thing?”

“Oh yes,” Nicole retorts, “We start every day with kisses and cuddles.”

“I’m gonna throw up,” Chrissy says.

“No,” Waverly protests, “We’ll stop being gross.”

“Why am I being punished?” Nicole says.

“Chrissy is just weak,” Waverly explains with a playful smirk. Nicole laughs and pulls back. Waverly sits up slowly, stretching her arms high above her head. Chancing a glance at Chrissy, she sees that her eyes are still squeezed shut tightly. Waverly says, “I’m going to go shower.”

“Ok, baby,” Nicole replies. She stays sitting on the edge of the bed as Waverly moves around the room, hand finding Nicole every now and then. With a chaste kiss, she finally heads towards the bathroom. “I’m going to run downstairs for that free breakfast.”

Nicole heads out of the hotel room and downstairs for breakfast. A few of her teammates and people from the other team are down there already eating, carbo-loading for the game in a few hours. She spots a few people that will be playing in the all star game and a couple of cheerleaders there for the competition taking place after the basketball final. She takes a seat with her plate full of bacon and waffles and eats them as quickly as possibly. She’s only halfway through when Waverly comes in with her hair in wet ringlets, shorts far too short and one of Nicole’s t-shirts, to which she nearly chokes on her food.

Waverly makes her way over with a smile and Nicole pushes her chair back, reaching up for Waverly and pulling her into her lap. She wraps an arm around Waverly’s waist but continues eating with one hand. After eying her plate carefully, Waverly takes a bite of some of the fruit.

“You guys are so cute,” Jen says.

“Thanks,” Waverly murmurs.

She snuggles back into Nicole who simply smiles and leans her cheek against Waverly’s shoulder. Nicole absently taps on her stomach until Waverly stills the movements by covering the hand with her own. Quietly, they pick food off of the plate until it’s gone while everyone around them talks. Waverly swipes a muffin for Chrissy before they had back upstairs so Nicole can get her gym bag. Chrissy has managed to become a functioning human being and when Waverly gives her some food, she announces that she wants to kiss her.

Nicole laughs and shakes her head, telling them that she’s going to head back downstairs while they change into their cheerleading uniforms. While she’s alone on the elevator, her nerves begin to fray. Although she has no idea what exactly is in those envelopes Coach Lucado gave her, she has a lot riding on how this game goes today. She needs a win and she needs to shine, especially after sitting out the last few regular season games. Her finger is still in recovery which has made her use her left hand a lot more, but she plans on spending all summer perfecting her left handed game.

Regardless, she’s worried that she won’t be up to par. Sure, they’ve done well enough to get to the finals, but they are playing the only team she didn’t play against all season. It’ll be important that she does something amazing that gets her an in with the best school Waverly wants to go to.

She waits in the lobby with the rest of the team, Coach Lucado looking at her watch and making it rather clear that she’s ready to head to the school. The rest of the cheerleaders make it down just in time for Lucado to sigh heavily and make her way out of the lobby. The group follows her lead and Nicole is taken a little by surprise when Waverly runs up beside her and wraps herself around Nicole’s arm.

The bus is a short ride and the gym is already half full by the time they arrive. Waverly follows her to the hallway leading to the locker rooms but doesn’t go too far in. They really haven’t had a chance to talk about her nerves and Waverly typically does a really great job in trying to help her ward them off.

“I’m fine, baby,” Nicole preemptively reassures, “I’ve been working for this my entire life. I’ve got this.”

“How’s your hand?” Waverly asks. Waverly grabs her hand and pulls it closer.

“It’s fine,” Nicole replies, peeling it out of Waverly’s hand and pulling her girlfriend in by her hips, “Listen, don’t worry, ok?”

“I can’t help it,” Waverly says with a pout.

“I know and I love you for it,” Nicole says softly. She steps forward and kisses Waverly lightly, hands coming up to her jaw. When she pulls back, she leans her forehead against Waverly’s. “But I have to go win this thing.”

“I’ll be cheering for you, baby,” Waverly says.

The space between a them begins to close as Nicole realizes Waverly is pushing up on her toes. She’s quick to react, pressing a finger against Waverly’s lips to stop her. She says, “Save it for after my win.”

Waverly huffs but lowers herself down to the floor. She nods slowly. Nicole grins and turns on her heel to head to the locker room. She gets dressed quickly and the team runs out to warm up together. They do their pregame drills. The other team looks good - healthy and prepared. For a moment, Nicole’s will falters but then she looks over at Waverly. She smiles wide and encouraging. It all comes rushing back and Nicole stands straighter.

“We’re gonna win,” Nicole whispers to herself.

The ref blows the whistle and both teams go to the benches. Coach sends in the starting lineup and since she’s both tall and has the highest vertical tells her that she’s doing the jump ball for her final high school game. She sucks in a deep breath to steel herself as they head towards the center. The girl across from her is only 2 inches taller than her so she swallows.

She wins the jump ball easily and they score right off of the bat. The adrenaline courses through her and takes her through the first quarter, scoring left and right. By the end of it, they are ahead by 8.

The second quarter is just as fast. Her hand is aching just enough and she’s leaning on her left hand’s capabilities. She even scores a few paint baskets with her left hand. All of her and the rest of her team efforts leave them behind by 2 at halftime.

They utilize their rest in the break room, drinking water and stretching. They keep their muscles from tightening before making their way back out to the court. Nicole continues stretching by the out of bounds line.

“You’re doing great, baby,” Waverly tells her from the bleachers.

“Oh, hey,” Nicole says, turning to face Waverly. She keeps stretching but offers a smile. Gesturing for Waverly to come over, she says, “Come over here.”

“How’s your hand?” Waverly asks. Nicole leans to one side while she shrugs. Her hand is lifted and Waverly runs her fingers over her palm, massaging it. It makes it feel a little better. “Better?”

“Better,” Nicole confirms with a nod, “Thank you, baby.”

She stands straighter with her legs still spread apart in a stretch, making her and Waverly the same height. Leaning forward, gives Waverly a chaste kiss. Waverly turns on her heel to go back to the bleachers and Nicole takes this chance to tap her on the ass. Nicole receives a narrowed gaze from over Waverly’s shoulder but when she turns fully back around towards Nicole, she’s grinning.

The third quarter starts with a renewed vengeance. They immediately score 6 points which puts them back in the lead. The lead is a constant battle throughout the entire quarter, waving between the two teams. Nicole herself scores 12 points in this quarter alone.

Everything rides on the final quarter. The entire gym is screaming and her team manages to feed off of the adrenaline flowing, but they never get a huge lead. They keep the game close but in the last 20 seconds, they are behind by 2. With enough screens to set her free, she receives the ball and shoots a three pointer. It luckily goes in and the buzzer erupts after 4 long seconds. They win by 1 point and a huge relief comes off of her shoulders.

There’s a natural high in the room and Waverly finds her quickly. Nicole grins widely when she sees her and bends low to slide her arms around Waverly’s waist. Lifting Waverly from the ground, she smirks when she feels those muscular thighs circle her hips. She’s pleased as she looks up at Waverly, the angle less familiar than normal.

“You were fucking amazing,” Waverly murmurs. Her hands are around Nicole’s shoulders and holding her close. She leans down and closes the gap, kissing Nicole soundly. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Everything’s perfect,” Nicole says, “You’re perfect.”

She sets Waverly down despite the protests, and kisses her again before turning to follow her team. They shake hands with the second place team. Some of them are crying and she doesn’t blame them, it was an intense game. After a few minutes of celebration, they head to the locker room to change.

She doesn’t have time to shower and her growling stomach doesn’t really allot it. They only have 3 hours before the cheerleaders have to come back for their competition. She doesn’t know if that’s enough time to eat, shower and nap. She’s feeling exhausted. She coats on an extra layer of deodorant before leaving the locker room. Everyone files out of the gym rather quickly and when she climbs onto the bus, Waverly is saving a seat for her. She sits beside her and Waverly’s weight is immediately distributed to her left side.

When they get back to the hotel, Nicole immediately takes a shower. Despite the all-star game later in the evening that she’s playing in, she feels so dirty that she can’t help the need. She comes out feeling fresh and clean, and Waverly laying on her back on the bed. Chrissy seems to be missing from the room, so she skates her hand up Waverly’s bare thigh as she climbs onto the bed.

“When do I get my show?” Nicole asks. Her hand slips under the hem of the skirt and Waverly squirms a little. She squeezes Waverly’s thigh. “You’re super sexy, you know that, right?”

“Nicole,” Waverly says, tone a slight warning, “Can’t we just cuddle?”

“Of course we can, baby,” Nicole says relenting quickly. She quickly removes her hand from Waverly’s thigh and lays on her back, letting her curl up against Nicole’s side. Waverly wraps her arm around Nicole’s stomach and reaches for her hand, settling her head on her shoulder. They get settled before Nicole says, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Waverly replies, but she can hear the pout in her voice. She doesn’t question Waverly further, just holds her until Chrissy comes back into the room. Realizing that Waverly has fallen asleep, Nicole just bods her head at Chrissy. They don’t exchange words at first, she just lets Waverly sleep until she stirs awake almost 10 minutes later. Waverly immediately mutters, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Nicole replies softly, chancing a glance at Chrissy, “What’s wrong, baby? Talk to me.”

Waverly hums before she shuffles against Nicole’s side, lifting her head to look at her. Shaking her head gently, Waverly squeezes her tighter and says, “Nothing. I promise.”

“When you’re ready,” Nicole says, dropping it. Nicole’s stomach growls suddenly. She leans down and kisses Waverly gently on the lips. “Are you hungry?”

“Mm,” Waverly hums again, “Yeah. I should probably eat something.”

“Chrissy?” Nicole asks.

She shrugs halfheartedly. Nicole realizes she seems a little sad, but when Waverly seems to realize they aren’t alone she glances back at her. With one look, Waverly seems overcome with worry and moves off of Nicole to get closer to her friend.

“Chrissy, is something wrong?” Waverly asks.

“It’s just,” Chrissy huffs and looks up at them with tears in her eyes, “I know I give you guys a lot of shit, but I want what you have. I want the gross heart eyes and just the being in love.”

“Oh,” Waverly coos. She looks back at Nicole with an apologetic smile. Nicole immediately gestures for her to go ahead and comfort her friend. She watches on as Waverly moves to Chrissy’s bed and pulls her into a hug. “Not everything is perfect between us.”

“Waves, you tell me about all of your fights,” Chrissy replies, tone incredulous, “You guys are perfect.”

“That’s not true,” Nicole interjects, “Waverly is totally a nightmare to share a bathroom with.”

“Hey,” Waverly says defensively.

“Seriously, baby. You’re grumpy in the morning. You take forever to get ready. You leave your clothes everywhere-“

“I do not!” Waverly argues.

“You totally do,” Nicole replies.

“Ok, alright,” Waverly says, ultimately deciding to ignore Nicole with a pointed eye roll, “Regardless, we aren’t perfect. We work really hard at being together. And look, Nicole’s right. I do all of those things and she literally never complains. She’s really good to me, and one day, you’ll find someone who is really good to you, too.”

“Ugh,” Chrissy groans, “Maybe I just need to start dating women.”

“I gotta be honest,” Nicole says, “Dating women isn’t all that easy. They’re hormonal. They hog the bathroom and the blankets. And some of them aren’t all that good at listening.”

Chrissy sighs and nods. After a tight hug from Waverly she excuses herself to the bathroom. While she’s gone, Waverly shoots Nicole a glare and climbs off of the bed. She moves towards her bag and starts digging through it, so Nicole follows her with a dramatic sigh.

“I’m mad at you,” Waverly tells her.

“Yeah yeah,” Nicole teases. Without hesitation, she slides her arms around Waverly’s waist and picks her up. Waverly screeches as Nicole swings her around and tosses her on the bed. She follows and climbs over Waverly, tickling her ribcage as laughter tumbles out and echoes around the room. “You still mad at me?”

Waverly screams through a smile as she grabs both of Nicole’s hands, bringing the tickle attack to a halt. Hovering over Waverly, Nicole’s eyes falter to her mouth and linger on her pretty smile. She feels Waverly’s knee between her legs, pushing up like she’s trying to keep Nicole from going back. She shakes her head slowly.

They kiss quickly and Nicole steps back, pulling Waverly into a standing position. Nicole puts on her shoes and ties them just in time for Chrissy to come out of the bathroom. They both smile at her. Quickly, they go grab a bite to eat and head back to the hotel. They hang out in the lobby to hang out for when it’s time to leave.

The crowd to the cheer competition is much smaller than the one for the basketball game. It’s basically just the cheerleaders and her save for Megan from her team who has a little sister on the cheer squad. Waverly goes into captain mode and practically ignores her for the entire bus ride, until they arrive and she says goodbye with a chaste kiss. Nicole is a little taken aback after being on the receiving end of the rush to get somewhere.

She takes a seat in the bleachers to wait for their turn. Busying herself with her phone to pass the time, she finally hears the announcement for their school and tucks her phone away. It’s nice to hear a different beat when Waverly starts moving first. Her eyes feast on the movements, Waverly’s step never faltering. It’s hot and when she does tear her eyes away, everyone else also takes in the sight before them. Her gaze returns, slacked jaw making her mouth go dry.

The routine finishes and the small crowd erupts almost as loud as when she won the championship just a few hours ago. There’s no doubt in her mind that Waverly’s perfect choreography is going to win. After a minute, her phone beeps. She looks at the message and finds Waverly is summoning her to the hallway.

By the time she makes it, some guy is standing there chatting Waverly up. Waverly, being the nicest person Nicole has ever met, smiles politely. Part of her wants to watch Waverly let this guy down easy but the jealous part of her flares up. She approaches quickly, throwing her arm across Waverly’s shoulders in a predatory manner.

“You were hot out there,” Nicole tells Waverly, “Wasn’t she, man?”

“Oh, yeah,” the guy stutters.

“Were you shooting for her number?” Nicole asks, barely glancing at Waverly.

“I mean,” he says with a shrug.

“Ok cool,” Nicole says, smirking, “It’s seven one seven she’s engaged, take a hike.”

“What?” He mumbles, eyebrows furrowing.

“I’ll try again,” Nicole says with a sigh. She stands upright, pulling her arm away from Waverly’s shoulders and pushing her palms together. She gestures her hands towards the guy as she talks, saying, “This hot girl does not want to give you her number. I already have her number.”

The guy bulks for a moment like he’s going to back off, the way Champ does without much push back, but then he suddenly puffs his chest. His gaze narrows on Nicole, almost like he forgets Waverly is even there. Although she’s been oddly quiet as she lets Nicole handle this situation, she is rather tired of boys thinking they can just hit on her girlfriend relentlessly and get away with it.

“You think you’re good enough for her?” He says, voice much deeper than before.

“Nicole,” Waverly protests, arm going around Nicole’s middle and pulling firmly, “Come on. He’s not worth it.”

“No wait, baby,” Nicole says calmly, “I want to hear what he’s going to say.”

He looks Nicole up and down, laughing in her face before saying, “Well, you’re not. You may think you are because that’s what she’s telling you but even you ought to see that she walks around, dressed like that, asking for it from a real man.”

“I assure you,” Nicole says, tilting her chin up and looking down her nose at you, “She’s not asking you or any other guy for anything while I’m around, no matter what she does or does not choose to wear.”

“You might want to tell your little girlfriend there to tighten up,” he says, “Because some guy is going to come along and give her exactly what she wants.”

“Ok,” Nicole says, slightly louder than Waverly, as she steps forward despite Waverly’s attempt to pull her back, “Contrary to what you may believe, nobody is going to tell her how to live her life. Least of all some random guy trying to ‘straighten her out.’ So, if I were you, I would back off before the cavalry steps in and knocks you onto your ass because there’s a mean right hook somewhere around here that isn’t afraid to play.”

“Threaten me one more time,” he says, voice deepening like his manhood is at stake.

“Or you’ll do what?” Nicole says, “Hit me? Do it. I dare you.”

“Nicole,” Waverly snaps, using more of her bicep muscle to pull Nicole back. Her feet firmly planted on the ground finally give out and she takes a small step back. The guy sneers and anger flare all over again. “Let’s just go.”

“I’m not going to let some asshole run you off,” Nicole says, still staring at him hard, “So if he wants to hit me to prove to us what a man he is then fine. Either way, he’s done harassing women.”

“Harassment is a big word, bitch,” he growls, “And if that were my girl I would make it very clear that she needs to be more adamant about telling people no or you’re going to find yourself not only a waste of space but without a girlfriend, too.”

Nicole isn’t expecting it when Waverly finally lets go of her. In fact, everything that she witnesses is really shocking in one way or another as she watches Waverly step in front of her and throw a closed fist in the man’s direction. She’s pretty sure if she had blinked she would have missed that mean right hook slam into his face, the momentum busting his face so hard that the trajectory keeps his head moving. Waverly’s follow through is perfect. All Nicole can do is stare openly as Waverly shakes her hand out.

“Fuck off, asshole,” Waverly barks.

The guy has tears in his eyes when he stands back up to his full height, still probably a half inch shorter than Nicole. He trails off with a glare, working his jaw on its hinges. Nicole waves at him over Waverly’s shoulder, waiting until he’s out of sight before she steps forward and wraps Waverly up in her arms.

“Jesus,” Nicole mutters, “Are you ok?”

“It hurts so bad,” Waverly says, pouty tone slipping out, “Remind me never to do that again.”

“But it’s insanely hot,” Nicole says. Waverly pulls back to give her a look. Smiling, Nicole relents all over again. “Ok, ok, you win, Ali. We better get some ice for your pretty little hand.”

“Was that a sports reference?” Waverly asks as Nicole turns slightly, slipping an arm around her shoulders.

“It was, Tyson,” Nicole says, stepping them forward while looking down to lift Waverly’s hand into a better viewing spot.

“I don’t get it,” Waverly pouts. She hisses when Nicole touches the knuckles while trying to bring them closer to her face. She knows her hand isn’t broken, but it still hurts. “He had a jaw of steel.”

“You must be stronger than steel. You knocked him off kilter. I think he went to cry to his mommy,” Nicole replies. Her chest swells when she locks eyes with Waverly. She has the faintest of tears threatening to fall and it really makes everything inside of Nicole still. “Oh, baby, come here.”

“It just isn’t fair,” Waverly pouts dramatically, “Why are guys always hitting on me?”

“Neanderthals, the lot of them,” Nicole says for dramatic effect as Waverly falls back into her arms. Shielding her, Nicole presses a kiss to the crown of her head. She lifts her head and feels Waverly’s arms tighten around her middle. “How’s your hand? Is it ok?”

“Better than yours would be,” Waverly replies.

This settles the discussion. They find ice for Waverly’s hand and go wait with the rest of her team through the rest of the routines. They take home first place and are back at the hotel by 5. It gives them enough time to grab a bite to eat before the all star festivities starting at 7.

The evening is pretty packed for time. Nicole feels a bit exhausted by all of the activities, but when they get back to the hotel after the all-star stuff, the partying isn’t over. Everyone is in high spirits because their school did so well for the day, taking home 2 trophies for the case in the hallway.

After they shower, they head down to the pool with everyone else. Neither of them wear their bathing suit so they really aren’t planning on going swimming, but Waverly dips her feet in the water. She shivers after awhile, becoming cold despite there being an indoor swimming pool. Nicole notices and turns from the somewhat pleasant conversation she’s having with a few people, including Shae.

It takes a bit to coax Waverly to go inside. They still haven’t talked about earlier in the afternoon with the guy Waverly punched. Nicole has been worrying over it, wondering if she upset Waverly or if she just made things worse. Although Waverly hasn’t been acting as though she’s upset, Nicole has kept a watchful eye.

They make some excuse about needing to go to the bathroom and when they get inside, they go to the abandoned gym. It’s rather large with exercise equipment throughout but an open floor space in the middle. Nicole sits on the treadmill and Waverly squeezes in beside her.

“How’s your hand?” Nicole asks, looking down at Waverly’s hand.

She smiles sadly and says, “Do you remember when I was asking you that?”

“Ha,” Nicole laughs. She can see a light bruise forming on Waverly’s knuckles so she lifts the hand to her mouth and places a kiss against the skin. After sweeping a thumb across the spot, she looks over at Waverly with a careful smile. “Look, I’m sorry about earlier.”

“Baby,” Waverly says, voice dropping low in a warning, “Don’t be sorry, ok?”

“I know I made the situation worse,” Nicole huffs, “I just, the dude was hitting on you and I guess it just reminded me of all of the times Champ did it and I kept my mouth shut.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Waverly reassures, “I love you.”

“I love you,” Nicole replies. Waverly leans into her. She wraps an arm around her and pulls her in, holding her close. They sit there quietly for a minute before Nicole sighs tiredly. “So, we’re ok?”

“Yeah,” Waverly says, pulling away, “In fact...”

Waverly pushes off of the treadmill and stands up to her full height. She watches Waverly intently, wondering exactly what she’s going to do. Waverly smiles shyly as she steps back, putting some space between them. Nicole’s mouth drops open as her brain catches up to what exactly is happening.

Waverly starts moving slowly, doing a much sexier rendition of the cheer routine. She moves pointedly to the left, keeping her eyes fixated on Nicole. But something in Waverly snaps and she slows in her movements, laughing softly. She turns slightly while covering her face, groaning loudly. Nicole gets up quickly and crosses to her, wrapping both hands around Waverly’s shoulders.

“It’s ok, baby,” Nicole says, “You don’t have to.”

“I wanted to,” Waverly says. Her voice sounds small and fragile. When she looks up, Nicole sees tears in her eyes. “I just need music.”

“How about this?” Nicole asks. She slides her hands around Waverly’s body, pushing her hands into her hips. She sways one way and then the other, trying to lead Waverly in a slow dance. After a bit of swaying, she says, “How’s this?”

“Oh, baby,” Waverly murmurs. She sniffs and moves her hands up to the back of Nicole’s neck. After a few minutes of swaying, Waverly drops her hands down Nicole’s torso and wraps her arms around her waist. “You really are the best.”

Nicole, for once, doesn’t protest. After just a few more minutes, they go upstairs to the hotel room and crawl into bed. Waverly falls asleep fairly quickly, but Nicole lies awake thinking about what’s in those envelopes they haven’t opened and what that means for their future.


	20. Man to Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emotions run high during Spring Break. Part 1/2

After the amazing weekend, they head home to the bedroom in the house Waverly grew up relieved that they no longer have to share with someone. There are more conversations about Wynonna and Waverly’s mom coming home and how they can prepare for that, as well as how they can possibly tell Gus and Curtis about their plans to marry. With spring break underway, they have a lot of time to waste before heading back to classes. Waverly takes a few shifts at Shorty’s which gives Nicole a little bit of free time to practice at the park. She alternates with equal amount focus on her left and right handed skills while working to only get a higher jump. She’s only a few inches away from dunking and if she can increase it any more she could go to college with that possibility.

They have made plans to check out a few campuses as they approach the end of the school year. They are going to check out a handful of schools: Brown, UConn, Yale, University of Pennsylvania and UCLA. She keeps trying to get Waverly to tell her what her preference is, but she simply keeps saying that they all seem great. There is another school that was on Waverly’s list, but Nicole never heard back from them so they are off the table. 

She’s bored out of her mind while Waverly works, but as they get halfway through the week she is granted the rest of the week off. Nicole relieved about this. Even though she had spent so much time alone, since being with Waverly she’s really forgotten how to entertain herself. 

After much deliberation, Waverly decides to join her at the park. When they get there it’s relatively empty and as she climbs out of the vehicle, Waverly grabs the basketball from the backseat. Nicole’s eyebrows knit and she shakes her head slowly, following Waverly to the abandoned court. It’s already hot outside when they get to the center court, sun shining bright. Waverly still has her adorable round sunglasses on and she weakly throws Nicole the ball. 

“Nuh uh. Come ‘ere,” Nicole says, scooping up the ball. Waverly pouts as she makes her way over. She can’t help but grin at how ridiculous Waverly is being, still finding her adorable. “You’re about to be married to a college basketball star, you can’t know nothing about the sport.” 

“Do I have to?” Waverly pouts even harder. 

“Baby,” Nicole says softly. She drops the ball to the concrete and it bounces for a moment before she lowers her foot onto it, stilling it. Bending at her knees, Nicole looks Waverly in the eye while reaching out to lay her hands on Waverly’s sides. “You’ve been to hundreds of games, you know everything about basketball except how to shoot.” 

“I know that my baby is the best,” Waverly replies, perking up with a grin. 

“Nice try, baby. Not even that will get you out of it,” Nicole says. 

Waverly groans. She says, "I don't do sports." 

"Wouldn't hurt to try," Nicole murmurs, leaning in close. With a huff, Waverly makes her way over. Nicole can’t help smiling at her pout as she kicks the ball up with her foot and catches it. She extends her hand and says, “Come ‘ere.” 

“I like this,” Waverly says, sliding her hand into Nicole’s, “Can’t we just do this?” 

“Hold hands?” Nicole asks. She laughs a little as Waverly nods gently. Moving her hands down Waverly’s sides, Nicole presses her hands against her hips to slowly guide her to a spot at the free throw line. “Let me have my teaching moment.” 

“Fine,” Waverly huffs, “But only because your authoritative voice is really sexy.” 

With a shake of her head, Nicole helps Waverly into the proper stance. It doesn’t take a genius to tell that Waverly seems slightly uncomfortable, but undeniably adorable. Nicole smooths her hands up Waverly’s ribcage and says, “Ok, so what you want to do is balance the ball on your fingertips and use your other hand as a guide as you shoot it.” 

“Like this?” Waverly asks, launching the ball wildly into the air. Nicole watches it fly towards the goal but miss by a long shot. Nicole runs to retrieve the ball and when she turns, she notices a sheepish look on Waverly’s face. “That sucked. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s ok, baby,” Nicole says. She returns but doesn’t hand the ball over quite yet. Placing it on the ground, she props a foot up on it to keep it from going anywhere so she can show Waverly what she’s talking about. “Do this.” 

Waverly gets into a shooting stance before Nicole grabs the ball and hands it over. The motions are repeated. Although this time Waverly is closer, she still airballs it. Nicole retrieves it again and returns. This time she wraps both arms around Waverly to move her hands but the results still end up the same. 

Waverly air balls every single one but she seems to have a pretty good time. After nearly half an hour of Waverly trying, they make their way over to the benches and relax for a bit. Nicole leans back, soaking up the sun. They decide not to waste their entire spring break just hanging out in the quiet town. Mostly everyone else has decided to get out for the break, including most of their friends. Honestly, this is probably the first time Nicole’s been in town for spring break in she can’t remember how long. In years past, if not being shipped off to her aunt and uncle’s, she was going on a trip with her parents, or going somewhere with Shae’s family. 

Waverly finally talks Nicole onto agreeing to go camping by the lake. Of course she would give in, because she always does, but she isn’t too particularly familiar with the concept of camping. She’s never slept outside in a tent. Her parents idea of camping was an RV with a big screen tv, even when something like that cost an arm and a leg. 

With a firm warning that Nicole has no idea what she’s doing, they pile into the car and head back to the house. Nicole doesn’t know the first thing about camping, what tools they will need and what she should pack. Thankfully, Waverly takes the lead. She packs a tent, some snacks, bug spray and sunscreen. 

Nicole grabs a few pillows and blankets, sure that the night air will cause Waverly to freeze in the middle of the night. The thought makes her laugh a little, realizing that Waverly will only huddle closer. Not that the cuddling has ever been much of a problem between them. 

By the time they’re fully packed, there’s a noise downstairs that suggests someone is home. It suddenly occurs to Nicole that Gus and Curtis might not be ok with this, with them just deciding to go away for a few days. It isn’t like she’s had to consider that sort of thing much over the last few years, mostly just doing whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. 

“Are you sure this is going to be ok?” Nicole asks, leaning back into the bed. 

Waverly stops packing, a pair of very short shorts in her grasp, and looks over at Nicole. She says, “Are you scared to go camping with me?” 

“A little,” Nicole admits with a smirk, “But I meant with your aunt and uncle. What if they don’t want us to go?” 

“Oh,” Waverly hums. She puts the last of her clothing into a duffel bag and closes the distance between them. Smiling softly, Nicole feels Waverly’s hands creep up her her arms to settle on her shoulders. “I’m sure they’ll love having the place to themselves for a few days.” 

“Ok,” Nicole absently agrees. She lifts her hands to Waverly’s hips and smiles up at her. The smile is tight and she feels like she’s trying to force the nerves away. “Maybe we can use this time to make a decision.” 

“I think,” Waverly starts, sighing heavily, “I need to tell them.” 

“But we haven’t even narrowed down our options,” Nicole replies. 

Waverly laughs softly. She says, “Not about that, silly. About you and me.” 

“Oh,” Nicole says quietly, “Do you think we should tell them together?” 

“I think I need to do this by myself,” Waverly replies, “Just wait here.” 

“Ok,” Nicole says with a nod. Waverly pats her chest as she leaves. Nicole watches as she leaves the room. It’s maybe about 10 minutes before Waverly returns, face not holding much expression either way. “Everything ok?” 

Waverly releases a heavy hearted breath before smiling and saying, “I guess we’ll see.” 

“What does that mean?” Nicole asks. 

“Gus said she would talk to Curtis about it and let me know when we got back their decision,” Waverly says. When she gives Nicole a smile, it doesn’t seem to touch her eyes like normal. Which makes Nicole slightly worried. “Lets just try not to worry about it.” 

“But you’re worrying me,” Nicole says. 

“Gus said she’s going to talk to Curtis,” Waverly says dismissively. 

Noting the nervousness in Waverly’s demeanor, Nicole decides to drop it for now. She’ll try bringing it up again later, when they are huddled together in a tent in the cold night air. Perhaps it’ll be better then, when Waverly voices her worries. She has been rather tight lipped lately, doing everything she can for the both. Nicole only hopes to one day return the favor, to care for her in such a way. 

They manage to get out of the house without seeing Gus and into the already packed car. All they needed were a change of clothes and some toiletries before heading out. As they drive out to the lake, silence engulfs them. Neither of them seem to know what to say. Nicole certainly doesn’t. Eventually, Waverly drowns out the silence with the radio and enjoys the rhythm to every song on the radio. She’s a little relaxed seeing a more carefree side of her girlfriend. 

As they drive on an off-road, Nicole spots other cars in the distance signaling that they’re in the right place. Some of their classmates are already there, have been for a few days, including Chrissy. Because of this, they’re forced to park a little ways back from everyone else. They aren’t even able to unpack their belongings before Chrissy is stealing Waverly away. 

Nicole finds Robin, who she is slowly becoming closer with just because he’s pretty much the best option of friend other than Waverly and Chrissy, and they hang out for a bit. Neither of them are drinking alcohol and choose to drink water. They get pulled into a frisbee game. Robin is really good at it, a lot better than everyone else, but after a bit they all scatter to other corners. Her stomach growls, so she asks Robin if he wants to join them in finding Waverly. She’s sitting around a fire, sitting in a lawn chair, next to Chrissy and a few other cheerleaders. She’s really glad Shae never comes to these things. 

“Waves,” Nicole says softly, leaning down as she presses a hand to her girlfriend’s arm, “I’m getting hungry. Are you?” 

“Oh my god,” Waverly says, eyes widening as she looks at Nicole, “I didn’t even think...I didn’t bring anything I can eat.” 

“I’ll go get you something,” Nicole says quickly, reassuringly. 

Waverly practically melts as she slips her hand into Nicole’s, standing from her chair. She immediately wraps her arms around Nicole’s middle, pulling her in for a tight hug. She says, “Baby, you’re the best.” 

Nicole grins at the flattery, pulling out of Waverly’s embrace with a chaste kiss to the corner of her mouth. Robin volunteers to go with her, climbing into the passenger side. The drive is about 20 minutes back into town. They talk a little bit, mostly about the people who are at the lake. By the time they arrive to the store, the temperature has dropped a bit and her basketball shorts are a little cold exposing so much of her leg. 

Despite the cold, they get in and out of the store rather quickly. They have enough vegan foods that they won’t have to return, including some tofu and some peanut butter. Nicole is still trying to figure out this vegan stuff, especially since Waverly has actually buckled down on the diet. It’s meant reading a lot of ingredients if she decides to do something nice. Not that she’s really been in much of a position to do anything like that since her parents cut her off. 

The car ride back is pretty uneventful. The sun is already starting to go down so she has to be careful on the back roads. Robin asks to turn up the radio during a Dominic Fike song and he sings along to it, leaving Nicole to get stuck in her thoughts. She’s worried about how Gus and Curtis are going to react. Since she wasn’t there when Waverly told Gus, she’s left guessing. She really thinks she should have asked them herself, or at least been present when Waverly did. She’s just been feeling a little unworthy. 

As they pull onto the campsite, the party is still raging. She parks the Land Rover in the same spot as before, climbing out to a completely different sounding song blasting. Her brain takes a second to catch up, following Robin back to the group. The sun dips behind the horizon, but there’s still enough daylight for Nicole to know Waverly is no longer sitting in the chair she was sitting in when she left, but has now moved to a log where she’s sitting next to someone who arrived while she was gone. 

Her heart leaps into her throat, beating there as she approaches with caution. All of her insecurities flourish, rising to their edges at the sight of Waverly talking to Perry freakin Crofte. Things between them have been so good and now this guy comes back, blowing it all up as he makes Waverly full body laugh. 

Her heart clinches in her chest as she approaches, the sight of Waverly’s hand on Perry’s arm making her hold her breath. With a heavy heart, she moves around behind them and overhears part of their conversation. He’s telling Waverly some story from his time at college, her active participation the most terrifying part of it all. Their knees are touching, Waverly’s hand on Perry’s arm, and they look like old times. Before he ever went away to college. For a moment, Nicole wonders if she’s imagined their entire relationship. 

“Hey,” Nicole interrupts, causing Waverly to look up at her with a smaller gaze, “I brought snacks.” 

“Thanks,” Waverly murmurs, leaning back and putting a little bit of space between her and Perry. 

“Nicole Haught,” he says slowly, grinning up at her, “I’m surprised to see you here. Don’t you usually leave town for spring break?” 

“Things change,” Nicole huffs. 

“Good to see ya,” Perry says, genuinely happy to do so like they’re old friends. To be quite honest, her and Perry really friends. In fact, they hardly ever crossed paths. If anything, she used to avoid Perry and Waverly like the plague and still knows very little about their relationship. “How ya been?” 

“Oh, just great,” Nicole grunts, “Everything’s perfect.” 

“Nicole,” Waverly warns. 

“It’s fine, Waves,” Perry interjects. 

“Yeah, Waves,” Nicole mocks, “It’s fine. I’ll just leave you two alone.” 

Huffing in annoyance that Waverly clearly hasn’t told Perry anything, she turns on her heel and leaves them alone. She can tell that Waverly is annoyed too, but her feelings are too hurt to care. Too hurt at how friendly Waverly is with a man who broke her heart. Especially considering Waverly is wearing her hoodie right now. Way to really dig it in. 

Robin helps her figure out how to set up the tent. She struggles and apologizes profusely, but they get it standing up. After, she follows Robin to get some food but declines the alcohol. Already so annoyed that all she wants to do is go to sleep anyway. With a sigh, she excuses herself from the warmth of the fire and heads to the tent. It takes a good amount of time to get comfortable, fluffing the pillow and huddling with the blanket beneath her chin for warmth. 

She’s barely gotten comfortable, laughter and screaming still going on outside, before the tent shifts. Peeling her eyes back open, she watches Waverly’s form move around the tent before the blanket moves and she slips beneath it. She scoots close to Nicole’s body, but all Nicole does is elicit a very loud huff of disagreement. 

“Nicole,” Waverly whines, “I’m cold.” 

Sighing, Nicole has the urge to give a petty response, but instead she swallows it down. Begrudgingly, she rolls towards Waverly and wraps an arm around her waist. She says, “You’re always cold.” 

Everything inside of her is screaming at her. If Waverly doesn’t want her anymore, then what happens to her? Where does she go? She certainly can’t crawl back to her parents. Regardless of how she feels, she has to suck it up and work through whatever feelings are bubbling inside of her. She doesn’t have a choice. 

“Baby,” Nicole whispers, fingers tapping on Waverly’s stomach. 

“What?” Waverly replies, voice less than warm and inviting. 

“Why did you stay with Perry?” Nicole asks. 

“We were talking,” Waverly answers, turning slowly in Nicole’s arms, “You were being an insecure jerk.” 

“What do you want me to say?” Nicole mutters. 

“I want you to tell me how you’re feeling,” Waverly huffs, “Don’t just be a jerk because you’re upset.” 

“He’s your ex-boyfriend,” Nicole replies, “You were flirting with him.” 

“What?” Waverly says, voice squeaking, “I was not flirting with Perry. We were talking.” 

“Well, you left something out,” Nicole mumbles. 

“He did most of the talking,” Waverly says, voice wavering finally. 

Nicole pushes up onto her elbow, looking down at Waverly’s face. Her hand rests on Waverly’s stomach, fingers pressing against the part of her skin that has been exposed with the shifting movement. Sighing, Nicole says, “What happened between you two?” 

“He went to college. We broke up,” Waverly replies. 

“But why? You could have made it work,” Nicole says. It’s quiet between them for a moment and all of the insecurities inside of her start to fade away, concern about Waverly taking over. She sighs and sits up completely, hands abandoning Waverly as she pulls her knees towards her chest and hugs her legs. “I can’t help feeling like a disappointment and everything inside of me is telling me that you’re going to easily find someone else better.” 

“Oh, babe,” Waverly hums. She sits up beside Nicole and wraps an arm around her shoulders. Nicole shivers, her t-shirt moving beneath Waverly’s cold hands, and feels Waverly drop her chin to her other shoulder. “Listen to me. I love you so much. I want to be with you. Not Perry. Not Champ. You. You’re perfect for me. I don’t care what those other guys say.” 

“But why wouldn’t you tell Perry that?” Nicole asks, body feeling defeated. 

“The thing about Perry is,” Waverly starts, hand skimming over Nicole’s side and slipping beneath the hem of her shirt, “He does a lot of talking and not a lot of listening. It’s one of his flaws and he honestly hasn’t worked on it at all. But that’s some other girl’s problem.” 

“You were touching his arm,” Nicole huffs. 

“Baby,” Wavery says, voice dropping as she slides her hand around to Nicole’s ribs, “I’m not touching anyone else the way I touch you.” 

“I just don’t know why you’re staying with me,” Nicole admits. She lets her head hang low, nerves bouncing inside of her more than she had been acknowledging. She’s scared and she swallows thickly before she continues. “What are we gonna do if they say no?” 

“I’m gonna love you,” Waverly replies, “And then when I turn eighteen, it’s up to me and I don’t need anyone’s permission.” 

A smile pulls at the corner of her mouth, but she doesn’t actually find a lot of comfort in all of this. Waverly’s nails scratch at her side, silently begging for Nicole to look at her. Reluctantly, she gives in, looking to find Waverly’s eyes in the darkness. Tears form in her eyes, the worry coming to a head and bursting over the walls she’s tried to put up. 

“Do you love me?” Waverly asks. 

“I’m afraid of losing you,” Nicole admits. 

She feels Waverly dragging her thumbs along her cheekbones, wiping at tears before she leans in to press a kiss against her cheek. She lays another kiss on Nicole’s temple. She says, “Come here, baby. I got you.” 

Nicole gives in to Waverly’s lead as she guides her back to the ground, this time Nicole laying on Waverly’s chest. She feels Waverly’s arm around her back, hand sliding up and down her spine in a comforting movement. They rarely lay like this, with Nicole seeking comfort in Waverly’s arms. She falls asleep to the sound of laughter and yelling, exhaustion from worry taking over. 

When her eyes flutter open again, her entire body is cramping but they’ve moved quite a bit throughout the night. The sun is pouring in and nearly blinding her so she pulls the blanket up over her face, the weight of Waverly’s leg over her thighs keeping her from moving too much. She has a hard time breathing so with a loud sigh, she moves a hand down to brace Waverly’s leg and turns to face her. Squinting, she buries her face into Waverly’s hair before pushing her hand around to her back, slipping it beneath the hem of the hoodie Waverly has on. 

Her back pops in places she doesn’t even realize is aching as she slips her ankle between Waverly’s calves and pulls her closer. Waverly must start to stir at this because her ice cold hands slip beneath Nicole’s t-shirt in search of warmth, her wrists revealing the skin of her torso with the movement. Blinking a few times, she peels her eyes open and moves her head up to tuck Waverly beneath her chin. 

She feels gross and uncomfortable from sleeping out on the ground all night, wishing she were asleep in the bed at her parents house. She could probably break in. They wouldn’t even notice. Except she doesn’t know how to pick a lock and the neighbors might call the cops on her. That’s the last thing she needs. 

She feels Waverly shift again, a chaste kiss pressing against her clavicle then the base of her throat. The next kiss against the curve of her throat lingers as Waverly’s hands grasp at her shirt, pulling her in as closely as possible until she looks down. Waverly kisses her immediately, tongue sweeping over her bottom lip before Nicole can even register what’s going on. After a few moments, Nicole’s hands come to live and push at Waverly’s stomach, putting just enough space between them that she can breathe. 

“Morning, baby,” Waverly hums. 

“What’s gotten into you?” Nicole whispers, a grin gracing her features. 

“It’s cold. You’re warm,” Waverly replies. 

Her fingers press against Nicole’s ribcage, palms warm now as her thumbs sweep along the hem of Nicole’s sports bra. Shifting, she pushes her knee between Waverly’s thighs. She looks down at her girlfriend’s face and arches an eyebrow in response. She says, “It feels like you’re going for more than warmth.” 

“Can’t I just touch you and kiss you without trying to get you to take off your pants?” Waverly whines. 

Nicole hums in response, trailing her hands down Waverly’s back and over her ass. She pats her hand against it twice before letting it settle there, pulling Waverly’s hips flush against hers. For a moment, she believes Waverly’s statement until she feels Waverly cup her breast. 

“Are you,” Nicole starts, moving her hips forwards a bit, “Sure you’re not like...in the mood?” 

“I could be,” Waverly replies, “But I need to pee.” 

“I’ll let you go,” Nicole says. 

“I’m not peeing out there,” Waverly says, pulling back to give Nicole a pointed look, “I’ve seen that episode of Grey’s Anatomy.” 

“Is there like a bathroom nearby then? I can drive you,” Nicole replies. Sighing loudly, she looks down her nose at her girlfriend’s adorable face. Waverly nods slowly and leans into kiss Waverly. The kiss deepens rather quickly and Nicole almost forgets before she pulls back. “We better stop before I can’t stop myself.” 

“Fine,” Waverly says with a pout. 

Reluctantly, they get up off of the ground. They put on their shoes and, once Nicole finds the keys on the floor of the tent, they make their way to the car. Not many people seem to be up yet, only a handful. Perry seems to be one of them and she makes eye contact with him, but he quickly looks away. Waverly doesn’t even seem to notice as Nicole opens the passenger door and lets her climb in. Once she gets into the car, they head to the park bathroom with Waverly’s direction. 

When they get there it’s empty so they’re in and out pretty quickly. They brush their teeth, get some clothes out of the back of the car and change before heading back to the campsite. When they pull up, mostly everyone else is up. The clock on her phone shows it’s nearly noon, so when they get out they look for something eat. 

After eating, everyone starts to come up with ideas of what they could do with their afternoon. It’s nearly 50 degree Fahrenheit and, after multiple suggestions to go into the lake, they finally settle on a game of football. Waverly convinces Nicole to play, saying she will play too, and after a few hours of that the game fizzles out. Lots of people spent the game flirting with each other, so they pair off to do a little more private flirting. 

After the game is completely finished, a group of people loads up into the car and Nicole drives them to the bathroom. Waverly, Chrissy and, begrudgingly, Stephanie talk loudly in the car while another of their friends stays rather quiet. Once they get back to camp, Nicole spots Perry and Robin throwing the football back and forth. A group of people have moved closer to the dock by the lake, and Waverly pulls her closer to get a better view. 

They watch as Champ jumps in. A crowd gathers around them as he climbs out so fast and runs towards them, shivering. He’s busy whining about how cold the water is when Nicole laughs quietly. 

“Why the fuck you laughing, Haught?” Champ snarls. Rolling her eyes, Nicole turns away from the stupid entertainment and starts to exit the circle. She doesn’t entirely understand when Champ got so hostile with her. At one point, they were friends. At least back before she started dating Waverly. “Why are you walking away?” 

Nicole doesn’t say anything, just casts a glance at Waverly before sighing loudly. She doesn’t want to be in this. She doesn’t even want to be around Champ. She doesn’t entirely know why she let Waverly talk her into coming here. Waverly looks really pissed, even angrier than usual. 

“Got something to say to me, Haught?” Champ baits. 

“No, I really don’t,” Nicole says sharply, turning to look at him. Everything inside of her snaps at the sight of him sneering at her, like he has something that she wants. She narrows her gaze and steps in front of Waverly, heart set on protecting her from Champ like she never has before. “Stop looking at me like that.” 

“Try me,” Champ growls. 

“Look, I get you hate me now that I’m with Waverly but you’re just gonna have to get over it, man,” Nicole says. 

“Oh please,” he says with a laugh, “She’s gonna dump your ass now that you don’t have any money. You’re worthless.” 

“What?” Nicole snaps, “What did you just say?” 

“Your parents don’t want you. Waverly won’t want you either,” Champ says, laughing mockingly. 

“You know what?” Nicole says, gaze narrowing. She feels Waverly’s hand press against her arm and, despite everyone’s eyes on her, her blood boils. She takes a step forward, attempting to intimidate him to back off. “I’ve put up with your shit long enough.” 

“Is that what Waverly said to you last night?” Champ says, laughing again, “Seemed pretty tense to me.” 

“You start this, bud, I’m gonna finish it,” Nicole warns him. 

“I saw her with Perry last night,” Champ says, “She wants a real man. Not whatever you got going on under there.” 

All of the anger rushes to her brain and she takes a powerful step forward as she pushes Champ hard. He recovers quickly. His step forward is coupled with a double whammy, right punch to her ribs and left hook to her jaw. She catches herself with a foot to brace her. Sucking in a deep breath, her vision glazes over and she surges forward. 

She tackles him to the ground. Her thighs press into his ribcage and squeezes him tightly, securing him into place. She pulls her arm back and slams it down into Champ’s face. 

First, she hits him in the nose. _Whack!_

Second, the jaw. _Whack!_

Third, the collarbone. _Whack!_

Fourth, his bare chest. _Whack!_

Fifth... 

She’s lifted off of him, two arms circling each of her arms as the distance between them grows. Only his nose is bleeding, but she can see red marks in all of the places she hit him. It seems to take him a moment to regain his composure, blinking rapidly. Nicole can’t even comprehend all of the commotion around her, but she does see him get to his feet. He wipes at his nose and as he looks at his hand to see the blood, she watches the rage appear all over again. 

He moves towards her, but Waverly steps directly in front of her. She can feel Waverly’s back against her front, and a quick glance to her sides makes her realize that Robin and Perry are holding her back still. Champ barely stops in his tracks, but Waverly pushes her hands hard against his torso. 

“Come near her again, talk to her again,” Waverly warns, “I’ll kick your ass.” 

He huffs before he stalks off. When Robin and Perry finally loosen their grasps, Nicole turns on her heel and heads towards the car. She can’t keep doing this shit. Her hand screams in pain, especially her finger. She slams the car door behind her, but the passenger door opens by the time she gets situated. 

“How’s your hand? Is it ok?” Waverly asks quickly, closing the door behind her. 

Waverly reaches over for her hand and starts examining it. Nicole shrugs. She says, “It’ll be fine.” 

“I’m so sick of him taunting you,” Waverly says, frustration quite obvious, “He had it coming.” 

“Really?” Nicole asks, surprised by Waverly’s response. 

“He’s an asshole,” Waverly counters. Nicole watches as Waverly leans closer, thumb sweeping across Nicole’s lip quickly. She opens the glove compartment in a rush and grabs a napkin, using it to dab the blood on her lip away. “He needs to just keep his mouth shut.” 

“He’s right though,” Nicole says as Waverly pulls away, “I’m not worth a damn. You’re better off with someone else.” 

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Waverly says sharply, “Cause I’m sick and tired of everyone else speaking for me. I love you, you stupid idiot. So I need you to just shut up because I’m not leaving you.” 

It takes a moment before Nicole relents, lifting her hands up in defeat. She says, “Fine. I guess you’re stuck with me.” 

“Good,” Waverly says, finally smiling. 

After a moment of cool down time, they get out of the car and go back to the party. Champ is off pouting with his group of buddies while Nicole leans against the log and Waverly sits down in front of her. They all pretend like Nicole and Champ hadn’t just fought as they chat, eat, and drink a beer until the sun goes down. Waverly has spent half of the evening snuggling in her arms and using her for warmth. 

Drunk Champ manages to run everyone off in their separate directions, annoying everyone until they go to their respective sleeping places. They’re no exception, retiring to their tent and getting situated under the blankets. Waverly curls into her side, hands seeking warmth beneath the hem of Nicole’s shirt. She can’t help but squirm beneath her cold hands. She hisses when Waverly’s hand brushes over the spot on her ribs that Champ had punched her earlier. 

“Are you ok, baby?” Waverly murmurs. 

“Yeah,” Nicole says, “Just a little pain.” 

Waverly moves away from her. She hears her rustling around on the tent floor for a moment, but then Waverly is straddling her hips under the light of her phone screen. The tent lights up with the flashlight and Waverly is pushing at her shirt with one hand while fixating the light on her torso with the other. Looking up, she can see the outline of Waverly’s face as her fingers trace the spot. Setting her phone aside, Waverly leans down to place a kiss against her ribs but quickly plants a trail along her torso. 

“Mm, that feels nice,” Nicole says, appreciating the careful way that Waverly is trying to care for her. She lifts her hand and runs it through Waverly’s long hair, getting a soft tap against her hip in response. Waverly pushes her shirt up more, thumb slipping beneath the hem of her bra to peel it off. The kisses continue, wetter now as her tongue sweeps over sensitive skin which makes Nicole squirm. She looks down at Waverly, watching her as she nips at the swell of Nicole’s breast. Smiling, Nicole says, “You’re so sweet.” 

“Baby,” Waverly murmurs softly before kissing Nicole hard on the mouth. Her tongue swipes along Nicole’s parted lips, teasing her until she hits her hips against Waverly’s. Her hand trails down Waverly’s chest but is stopped when their hands entwine and Waverly pushes the back of her hand against the ground. “You mean...everything to me.” 

“Yeah,” Nicole agrees, Waverly’s breath floating over her lips. She pulls her knees up until her thighs press against Waverly’s back. She braces Waverly there, her hand preoccupied as she stares up at her. With her other hand, Waverly draws a line down her sternum between her breasts. The touch is so light she shivers. “I’m gonna take care of you, baby.” 

“I know you will,” Waverly says, “And I believe in you.” 

“I’m gonna do it for you,” Nicole replies. She lifts her hand and cups Waverly’s cheek. Waverly lets go of her hand and she uses it to push herself up, kissing Waverly softly. She gives a reassuring smile and says, “I don’t want you to worry. I’m gonna give you everything you could want.” 

“I just want you,” Waverly whispers against her mouth. 

“You have me,” Nicole says. 

With a smile, Waverly pulls her own shirt off and tosses it aside. Her breasts nearly spill out of her bra and Nicole is staring for definitely not the first time, certainly not the last. Waverly’s hands are on her sides again, etching up her torso until she’s grasping Nicole’s shirt and pulling it off. Her hands return to Nicole’s stomach, tracing everywhere with her soft touch, but her fingers brush over that spot again. Nicole inhales, cringes. 

“Shoot,” Waverly husks out, “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you.” 

“Keep going, baby,” Nicole encourages. 

Waverly’s hand settles on Nicole’s exposed breast, massaging it as her other hand travels down Nicole’s stomach. After grabbing a handful of skin, squeezing tightly, Waverly bends down to take the other breast into her mouth. Nicole moans and places both hands on Waverly’s hips, letting her fingers slide up her spine until she finds the clasp on her bra. As she removes the clasp, Waverly moves her head up to lay another kiss against Nicole’s mouth. 

“Nicole,” Waverly says. 

“Yeah, baby?” Nicole asks, hands skimming over Waverly’s back. 

“I want you so bad,” Waverly replies. 

“Ok,” Nicole says, pressing a kiss to Waverly’s shoulder, “How do you want me?” 

Waverly quirks an eyebrow, looking at her with a grin that makes Nicole’s insides warm. Her hands stop roaming and settle on her hips as Nicole stretches her legs out. Waverly says, “I want you inside me. I want everyone to know that I’m yours.” 

“Oh fuck,” Nicole coughs, a little caught off guard by the request. All of her body reacts to the way Waverly’s hands skate down her torso and begin to unbutton her jeans. Why did she even put on these stupid things? If she had just kept the shorts on she could have taken them off by now. “You’re trying to drive me crazy.” 

Waverly’s hands push back up her torso and wrap around her shoulders, thumbs tracing over her collarbones as she stares deep into Nicole’s eyes. With a deep sigh, Nicole trails both hands along Waverly’s hips and pushes them down to get a firm grasp of Waverly’s ass. A gust of Waverly’s breath touches her skin as she tilts her head back, laughing quietly. 

“That really turns me on,” Waverly hums softly. 

“Oh yeah?” Nicole asks, grinning. Waverly gives her a nod, tucking her bottom lip between her teeth. Waverly arches forward, their breasts rubbing together. Nicole does a sharp intake before pulling her hand back and slapping Waverly on the ass. She holds her breath waiting for the reaction, not realizing that was something that actually turned Waverly on more than it was just a love tap. “And that?” 

“That too,” Waverly replies. 

Her girlfriend’s lips quickly descend upon hers, crashing together with urgency as she moans into Waverly’s mouth. Their tongues wrap around each other’s, massaging lightly for a moment while her hands begin to roam. Slipping her hand beneath Waverly’s panties to cup her ass, Nicole shifts them to slot between her thighs. The jolting movement causes Waverly to pull away, gasping for breath. 

“You ok, baby?” Nicole asks. 

Waverly’s hands move to her biceps, squeezing tightly as she braces herself. Nicole absently feels the way Waverly’s foot slides along her calf which only manages to encourage her to place a kiss to Waverly’s shoulder then the swell of her breast. Her lips linger, hands moving to pull at Waverly’s shorts. 

“Yeah,” Waverly says, voice taking on a rather dreamy tone, “I just forget how strong you are.” 

There’s another squeeze to her muscles as Nicole pulls the shorts down Waverly’s legs, getting her nearly entirely naked. Her fingers etch along Waverly’s frames, pushing against inner thighs until her legs part readily. With a bite at warm flesh, Nicole swirls her tongue around the spot before sucking on Waverly’s clavicle. After a few swipes of her tongue, Waverly digs her nails into Nicole’s shoulder blades. She pulls back with a hiss, arching into Waverly’s hips until their torsos touch. She grounds her hips down, only stopping when Waverly thrusts upwards with a whine. 

“Nicole,” Waverly moans, sound echoing loudly around them, “Come on.” 

“Ok, ok,” she concedes. She slips her hands beneath Waverly’s panties and pulls them off with ease. Kissing her way back up, makes sure to pay extra attention to that spot on Waverly’s thigh that makes her squirm. 

“Take your pants off,” Waverly commands. 

Stilling for a moment, Nicole looks at Waverly in an attempt to challenge her, but eventually she gives in. Leaning back, she peels her jeans off and tosses them onto the ground beside them. Waverly sits up, hands grasping her legs to pull Nicole back to her. Nicole finds herself on her back again, Waverly hovering over her as her hands press against her ribs again. It stings, but she’s distracted from the pain by the feeling of Waverly’s center pressing against her thigh. 

Swallowing thickly, Nicole slips a hand down between them and touches Waverly lightly. The wetness is warm and inviting, making her feel welcome as her fingers slip into her. Waverly sighs and moans loudly, maybe even louder than normal, and it urges Nicole to pump her fingers quickly. It takes a moment to find their rhythm. Waverly’s palms brace on her shoulders as she rocks her hips against Nicole’s hand. She only has to slide her thumb over Waverly’s clit a few times before she’s coming with a scream, body collapsing against Nicole’s. They lay still for a few moments, breath colliding in the space between them. Once Waverly’s recovered, she places lazy kisses against Nicole’s mouth while her hand drifts down to her pulsating entrance. 

“You’re so wet,” Waverly says. 

“Turning you on turns me on,” Nicole admits. 

“You’re such a giver,” Waverly says, keeping her hand there as she straddles Nicole’s thighs and leans down to kiss her, “I just want to give back.” 

Nodding, Nicole works with Waverly’s lead as she thrusts 2 fingers into her. She rocks her touch, moaning against Waverly’s kiss, hand finding purchase in Waverly’s hair. Pulling a little too roughly, Waverly groans as their lips part for oxygen. Her other hand grasps at Waverly’s breast, thumb sweeping over a hardened nipple as they move against each other. 

“I’m close,” Nicole says. 

“Me too,” Waverly agrees with a moan. 

Her fingers falter as she thrusts against Nicole’s thigh. Even then they keep thrusting towards each other as their bodies react to the warmth between them. Nicole’s pretty sure she’s even sweating in the cold, night air. Her heart stops beating in her chest and she forgets to breathe as her muscles below her abdomen tighten, a low guttural noise slipping out of her. She can’t handle Waverly touching her anymore. She flips them over, pinning Waverly to the ground by her hips as she buries her face between her girlfriend’s legs until she makes her scream out again. 

When they’re finally coherent again, they huddle beneath the blankets closely together and trace shapes against each other’s skin until they fall asleep. 


	21. Block

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final part of Spring Break and, oh boy, some melodrama.

Waverly’s skin is sticking to hers as she peels her eyes open, the zipper of the tent loud as her brain tries to determine what the hell is going on. She moves slightly, heart beating rapidly, as she checks that everything that should be covered is hidden under the blanket. That is until she’s blinded by the sunlight seeping in.

At this time, Waverly stirs awake and turns her head to look at the intruding sounds. When Nicole’s brain deduces that it’s just Chrissy, she audibly groans as she turns to her side towards Waverly. She slips her leg between Waverly’s bare thighs and wraps her arm around her waist. Placing a hand on Waverly’s back, she pulls their fronts closer together and buries her face into Waverly’s luscious hair. 

“Chrissy,” Nicole finally groans in annoyance, “What are you doing?” 

“Oh my god,” Chrissy replies in a rush as she sits on the ground. 

Waverly moves in her arms, completely undoing all of the efforts she had just put into getting comfortable. She turns her back to Nicole, pressing her ass up into the curve of her abdomen, and faces Chrissy. She says, “What’s going on?” 

Waverly yawns and stretches beneath the blanket, back elongating against Nicole’s naked body to which she tucks her hand beneath Waverly’s ribcage and tiredly sweeps her thumb along her under boob. Waverly slips her ankle between Nicole’s calves and hooks her somehow, teasing her just enough that she’s ready to kick Chrissy out. Waverly would never allow that though. 

“I just had the craziest night,” Chrissy leads. 

“Have you even slept yet?” Waverly asks. 

“Not yet,” Chrissy says. 

Waverly shakes her head as her fingers splay open on Nicole’s forearm, stilling Nicole’s movements like she can read Waverly’s mind. She sighs loudly, probably louder than necessary, and moves her hand down to Waverly’s stomach. Flattening her hand, she tightens her grasp around her girlfriend and uses her for warmth. For once, Nicole is cold. 

“What time is it anyway?” Waverly says, yawning and arching back into Nicole. The ass against her crotch is kind of torture. She conveys as much when she digs her nails into Waverly’s hip. 

“Like seven,” Chrissy answers lacking any remorse for waking them up. 

“Chrissy,” Nicole whines. She squeezes her eyes tighter and makes a silent vow to immediately go back to sleep at all costs. 

“No wait,” Chrissy says. Nicole feels a pressure against her leg, one that does not seem to be coming from beneath the blanket, so she peels her eye open and peers at the disturbance. She almost makes a comment to Chrissy about how she really shouldn’t touch her right now considering how her brain is pretty stuck on Waverly being naked and pressed up against her, but Chrissy cuts her off before she can. “Listen.” 

“Fine,” Nicole grumbles, settling back into her spot. Thankfully, Chrissy retracts her hand at that. Waverly does not. 

“What’s going on?” Waverly encourages Chrissy to continue. 

“You know that guy Chandler?” Chrissy asks. 

“Sort of,” Waverly says. 

“Ok, well, we stayed up all night talking-“ 

“Talking,” Nicole chimes in. 

“Nicole,” Waverly warns, slapping her arm beneath the blanket. After a beat of silence, Waverly says, “Talking or  _talking_ ?” 

“It was just talking,” Chrissy says, voice lowering, “And maybe a little over the clothes stuff.” 

“You woke us up for over the clothes stuff?” Nicole says with a huff. 

“Maybe,” Chrissy says slowly, “Ugh, it’s freezing. Move over.” 

“You don’t want to do that,” Waverly says quickly, hand darting out from under the blanket to hold it down. 

“Oh my god. Are you guys naked?” Chrissy squeals. She takes a look around the tent and sees their clothes strewn everywhere. Eyes widening, Chrissy looks at them dumbfounded for a moment. “Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“When?” Nicole says, voice muffled by Waverly’s hair. 

“Be nice,” Waverly hisses, slapping Nicole’s arm again. With a sigh, she slides her hand across Waverly’s stomach until she’s turning slightly to give Nicole a warning glance. Her shoulder touches Nicole’s chest and her weight rests more heavily against her. Waverly distractedly lifts the arm closest to Nicole and circles her head as Nicole rests her chin against Waverly’s shoulder. “But, to be fair, you didn’t really give us a chance to warn you.” 

“Well,” Chrissy says dramatically, “Sorry. I was just really excited and had to tell my best friend.” 

“We’re still naked,” Waverly says. 

“And a little turned on,” Nicole adds. 

“Nicole!” Waverly screeches as Chrissy practically tumbles out of the tent, gagging. Waverly angles her body towards Nicole’s to stare at her, mouth open, and all she can do is smirk. “I can’t believe you.” 

“Damn, baby,” Nicole says, “You’re not so innocent.” 

“I’m freezing,” Waverly groans, “Warm me up.” 

“You got it, baby,” Nicole hums. 

She hugs Waverly tighter to her front, slipping her leg over her girlfriend’s to fully encompass her. Waverly tucks her face into Nicole’s chest, hands caught in the space between them. Slowly, Nicole drifts back to sleep with Waverly’s soft breaths against her skin. 

They wake up a few hours later to noise outside of the tent, laughter that carries over the lake and talking around the unlit fire pit where the chairs are. Her back aches as she gets up, body becoming littered in goosebumps beneath the cold air, and she looks around for their clothes. She pulls every article near them to the center of the tent where they promptly sort through them appropriately. 

Once dressed, they venture outside. A few people look at them with slightly wide gazes that only grow when Waverly wraps her arms around Nicole’s waist while wearing an oversized Purgatory High School basketball hoodie. She begs Nicole to take her to the bathroom, hands slipping beneath the hem of Nicole’s t-shirt to really convince her. 

The drive to the bathroom is rather quiet, but Waverly reaches over to grab her hand about halfway there. There are a few people from their campsite there doing their lakeside morning routine, and once they’re done they change clothes. They stuff their things back into the car and head back, talking about how they can’t wait to get home to take a shower. Nicole has never felt so dirty in her life. She truly can’t believe Waverly even wants to be near her. 

It’s warmed up out by the time they get back. Nicole is glad she decided to wear the shorts as the day goes on. Robin convinces her to throw the football back and forth, even though that’s more Robin’s wheelhouse than hers. She did play catch with her dad when she was younger, before the ripe old age of 9 years old when her parents thought she no longer needed supervision or guidance. 

For a moment, she gets stuck in the way things were. Back before Waverly when she was in the toxic loop with Shae. She really hasn’t thought about Shae or their time together too much over the last few weeks, too wrapped up in the idea of this future with Waverly. The one she would give anything to have. Even then, she thinks about her parents, about Brandon and Lisa Haught, about the way they’re practically strangers to her even though she’s inherited so many things from them. 

By the time they’re done tossing the football back and forth with Robin, her mood has taken a weird dip. Despite Waverly’s rather loving demeanor, coming to say hi every once and awhile while she talks to Chrissy and Stephanie and a few other cheerleaders who showed up in the afternoon, she can’t get away from the feeling of abandonment. Nicole feels heavy hearted and a little bit foolish to miss her parents when they haven’t cared about her in such a long time. 

Waverly must sense her thoughts or something because Nicole feels her arms slip around her waist from behind. Waverly’s cold hands slip beneath the hem of her t-shirt, seeking warmth against Nicole’s waistline where her shorts hug her hips. Leaning back, Nicole can’t help but let herself get sucked back into crazy thoughts. This time, not thinking of her parents, but of what might happen if Gus and Curtis say no. 

“Whatcha thinking about, baby?” Waverly asks, voice a gentle hum in her ear. 

“You,” Nicole replies. Waverly scratches her stomach, breath tickling her ear. She doesn’t know how to bring it back up, how to voice her fears. Instead, she swallows and says, “How you really care about me.” 

“Of course I do,” Waverly says softly, a slight tremor in her voice, “I love you. I just want you to be happy.” 

“I’m happiest with you,” Nicole says. 

“Me too,” Waverly absently agrees, “Except with you.” 

“Good,” Nicole hums, turning slowly to face Waverly, “What have you been up to?” 

“Just talking,” Waverly says, “Come ‘ere.” 

“Baby,” Nicole says, barely audible, as Waverly grabs her hand and threads their fingers together, “Wait. I just, I need to talk to you for a second.” 

“Ok,” Waverly says quickly, “Are you ok?” 

When Nicole looks at her, she sees pure concern on her face. Knowing that all of her insecurities have just been eating away at her for the better part of a few hours, she wants nothing more than to just walk away like it isn’t that big of a deal but she knows differently. Old habits die hard and everything inside of her screams to push Waverly away. Her instincts can’t be trusted though. She’s smart enough to be aware of that. 

“Yeah,” she says, voice soft and airy, “I was just thinking about what things were like before you.” 

Waverly stares at her, silently urging her to continue, but she finds it really hard. Swallowing thickly, she feels her eyes prick with tears. She shrugs, trying to push it all down. She says, “My parents...it’s stupid.” 

“No, baby,” Waverly says, hands catching hers tightly as she pulls her in. Nicole feels her everywhere, her fingers moving so quickly as she presses her fingers into Nicole’s jaw to connect their gazes. Unable to look away, Nicole lets a single tear drop in hopes that all the hurt will disappear. “It isn’t stupid. What’s going on?” 

“I don’t know,” Nicole admits. 

Waverly’s thumbs stick to her cheeks as she wipes at the tears that have fallen, but she doesn’t accept Nicole’s answer. She doesn’t even need Waverly to speak to know it’s what she’s saying, that she’s pleading with her to let her in. With a sigh, Nicole takes a quick look around before leading Waverly away to a place that they can be alone. When they get to the tent, Nicole slowly lowers herself to the ground. Waverly easily follows, crossing her legs and sitting in front of Nicole. 

When Waverly’s hands find hers again, thumbs sweeping across her knuckles like she’s being supported as she hasn’t been before, Nicole feels the tears come flooding back. She feels rather ridiculous, but the lump in her throat is too hard for her to really protest the comfort. After all, her insecurities are rushing to the surface and all she wants is to never be alone. 

“What if,” Nicole starts, swallowing the lump somehow, “What if I pick the wrong school and then you’re mad at me?” 

“It’s just undergrad,” Waverly replies with a shrug. Nicole narrows her gaze at the flippant reaponse, not expecting Waverly to not take school 100% seriously. Waverly smiles reassuringly and squeezes her hands. “I can study the basics anywhere, baby. When I go for my master’s, that’s when the choice is important.” 

“What if I go somewhere you can’t get in?” Nicole asks. 

Waverly laughs, the sound coming out like a snort, but quickly recovers with a very remorseful look. Nicole feels Waverly’s hands slide up her forearms, an apologetic look on her face as she squeezes her muscles. She says, “Baby, I know everyone makes fun of me for studying so much, but I can get in basically anywhere. So, where you go, I’ll go.” 

“But I don’t want to make you do something you don’t want to do,” Nicole says. She sounds even smaller than she had meant to, like her entire life rests in Waverly’s hands. And maybe it does a little bit. A little too much, maybe. “My parents didn’t want a kid, not really, and look where they are now.” 

“I’m not your parents,” Waverly says, voice hard and tired, “And I really need you to stop pushing me to leave you. I don’t want to do that. One minute, you’re asking me to marry you. The next you’re inferring that I’m going to leave you. You can’t have it both ways, Nicole.” 

Her mouth drops open as she stares at Waverly, clearly getting more and more tired of Nicole’s insecurities. She swallows and looks down, eyes starting at Waverly’s grasp on her forearms before she looks at her hands and keeps them busy. She says, “I’m just...damaged goods. You don’t get it.” 

“You don’t think I’m damaged goods?” Waverly says with a huff, “My dad doesn’t want anything to do with me. My mom and my sisters left me behind. You’re not the only one that has shitty people in their lives. I’m scared, too. Look at you. You’re a freaking rockstar and I’m just me.” 

As Waverly talks, Nicole’s head whips up to look at her. She looks scared, like Nicole actually holds all of the power, and she almost believes that’s never been true. Waverly picked her. Not the other way around. 

“God, if Gus and Curtis won’t let me marry you, I don’t know what I’m going to do. You could have anyone you want, literally,” Waverly says. Her nails drag along Nicole’s skin as she tries to pull her hands away, but Nicole catches them. They grasp onto each other tightly, like they’re hanging on for dear life. “Why would you want me when your dreams are just moments away?” 

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” Nicole says, confused, “I think...you’re the only person who’s ever truly loved me. Maybe even liked.” 

“I’m sure that just isn’t true,” Waverly says, voice straining. Looking at her, Nicole sees a mixture of guilt and stress on her features. The way her eyebrows dip in that gentle manner like she’s taking on all of the world’s problems tugging at Nicole’s heartstrings. 

“Hey,” Nicole says softly, “Don’t do that.” 

“What?” Waverly asks, hands twisting in Nicole’s. 

“You’re not responsible for everyone else,” Nicole replies. 

“It kind of feels like it,” Waverly says quietly, almost mumbling under her breath, “It feels like you’re punishing me for something someone else did.” 

“Would you just stop?” Nicole says loudly, squeezing Waverly’s squirming hands almost too tightly in her own, “I get it. I’m an asshole. You put up with a lot of my shit, but I’m still trying here. I don’t mean to punish you or whatever.” 

Something seems to click in Waverly because her face falls and she pushes forward. She has no choice but to release Waverly’s hands, letting her balance herself on Nicole’s shoulders as she settles into her lap. Her weight presses against Nicole’s thighs, the pressure making Nicole’s thighs bend tiredly, as she circles her hands around Nicole’s jaw. 

“Hey,” Waverly says, voice low and grave in her ear, “I’m sorry. I don’t think you’re an asshole. I just want you to be happy. It hurts me to know you’re hurting.” 

Nodding slowly, Nicole shifts her gaze away from Waverly’s. 

“You’ve got me, baby,” Waverly says softly, “And if I could kick the ass of anyone who has ever hurt you, then I would.” 

“I’ll make you a list,” Nicole says, finally finding it within herself to lighten the moment. She looks at Waverly again, gracing her with a small smile. Leaning her forehead against Waverly’s shoulder, she wraps her arms around Waverly’s waist and hugs her close. “I love you like a lot.” 

“Whatever you’re going through, we’re going through it together,” Waverly says. Nicole nods slowly, but doesn’t look up. She does feel Waverly’s hands on her neck, palms pressing against her collarbones. It’s warm beneath her touch. “Are you feeling any better?” 

“A bit,” Nicole replies. 

After a few minutes, they get up and leave the confines of the tent. They only have one more night here before they all head home and the sun is beginning to set so they intend to get everyone together for a last hurrah of sorts. But, first, Waverly tells her that she needs to go to the restroom. After getting back to the campsite, it’s pretty dark. At least Champ has left her alone all day and her ribs have only been aching a little bit. They eat a little bit around the fire. Robin gets out his guitar and they sing a few songs. Waverly more than Nicole. Robin even lets Waverly take a crack at the guitar. She doesn’t really know how to play, but she’s still better than most. A natural. The sun and the long days have exhausted everyone so they trail off to their sleeping quarters to go to bed. As Nicole follows Waverly, she hears a soft request for them to keep the noise down. 

The next morning she wakes to the sound of cars running outside. Nicole doesn’t really want to get up, especially with Waverly curled up against her. Although they’re wearing more clothes then the morning before, sleeping beside Waverly sometimes makes it difficult to get up. She looks so peaceful, like she doesn’t have a worry in the world. Sometimes she has so many things going on in her brain that Nicole worries for her. 

As she slowly peels her eyes open, her hand searches for Waverly’s. When she finds it, she entwines their fingers. The sound of their rings screech when they touch, but Waverly still doesn’t stir. Nicole moves her other hand around Waverly’s middle and pulls them closer together, hand slipping beneath the hem of Waverly’s shirt. Her skin is warm but she still shivers against Nicole, silently begging for her warmth. 

“Too cold,” Waverly murmurs, squeezing her hand as she pulls it beneath the blanket. 

Her arm twists slightly uncomfortably, but she still holds Waverly close as she slips a knee between hers. Waverly curls forward, resting her front on the ground and pulling Nicole more on top of her, effectively using her as a blanket. Her face is buried in Waverly’s brunette locks and the scent of her shampoo is gone. Nicole truly can’t wait to go home and take a shower, feel fresh and clean after too many days without the perks of domesticity. 

“Am I crushing you?” Nicole asks, nearly inhaling strands of Waverly’s hair. 

“No,” Waverly hums, “This is good.” 

The tent zipper makes a sound and Nicole pulls away, looking at the sound. She holds her breath, studying the movement. Suddenly, Chrissy says, “Is it safe to come in?” 

Nicole sighs loudly but ultimately says, “Yeah, come on.” 

Rolling onto her back, she releases her hold on Waverly and waits in hopes that she’ll follow. Through a yawn, Waverly makes room for Chrissy, pushing her pillow over and deciding to use Nicole’s arm as a pillow. The blanket doesn’t seem to be big enough for the three of them as Chrissy kicks off her shoes and slips beneath it, so Nicole turns onto her side and wraps her arm around Waverly again. They get situated, now sharing a pillow, with her arm draped over Waverly’s middle. 

“I’m gonna miss you guys,” Chrissy hums. 

“What do you mean?” Waverly asks, teaching her hand out and grabbing Chrissy’s hand. 

“Just, when we graduate, you guys are gonna go off to your life together and I’m gonna stay here,” Chrissy says, “It’s gonna suck without you.” 

“Awe, Chrissy, I didn’t know you cared,” Nicole teases. 

“Ugh, shut up,” Chrissy groans. 

“Come with us,” Waverly says. 

“But where?” Chrissy asks. 

“I don’t know,” Waverly admits, “We’re checking out a few colleges in the next few weeks.” 

“I don’t even think I want to go to college,” Chrissy says, voice harsh and flippant. 

“You don’t have to go to college,” Nicole says. 

“Yeah,” Waverly absently agrees. 

“I’ll just follow you guys wherever you go,” Chrissy says, “Move over. I’m getting in.” 

“Yay,” Waverly says genuinely. 

“Damn, I was really looking forward to being naked like most of the time,” Nicole says. 

“Do you ever not think about sex?” Chrissy grumbles. 

“I didn’t say anything about sex,” Nicole replies defensively, “I said I want to be naked most of the time.” 

“Oh my god,” Waverly groans. 

“There goes that plan,” Chrissy says with a huff. 

“Hey, ignore her. She’s just being silly,” Waverly says, voice dripping with sympathy towards Chrissy. After a few moment, Waverly leans more into Nicole’s side and smooths her hand down to cover the back of Nicole’s. “Besides, she isn’t going to get to walk around naked all that much. We won’t have time for torture in our house.” 

“You know,” Chrissy says after a beat, “This entire time I thought Nicole was the horny one. Turns out I was wrong.” 

“Hey,” Waverly says with a tired groan. 

“It isn’t her fault I’m really good with my hands,” Nicole chimes in. 

The excitement dies down and after half an hour of drifting for all three of them, Waverly finally announces that she has to pee. They all get up and quickly gather their things. They load up the car while clearing their spot. Chrissy had ridden out with Stephanie but catches a ride with them back into town after they stop at the bathroom. 

Once dropping Chrissy off at home, they head home themselves. It’s nearing closer to noon and Nicole pretty much can’t stop thinking about taking a shower, but when they pull up to the house the dread settles into her stomach. For a brief moment, she had forgotten about the worry on whether or not Gus and Curtis would say yes. With a huff, she climbs out of the car. Waverly offers her a tight smile, an attempt at offering comfort. 

As they approach the house, Nicole realizes that there’s yelling inside. It reminds her what life was like with her parents whenever they were home. Usually the arguing was never directed at her, not until they found out about her and Waverly anyway. Confusion settles into her bones as she sucks in a deep breath before following Waverly inside. 

The first thing she sees is Wynonna lounging on the couch. The confusion pinches her even more. She knew they were coming home, but she didn’t know they would be back. Casting a glance at Waverly, she can tell she’s surprised to see her sister as well. Maybe this is a good surprise... 

“Oh my god,” Waverly’s excited voice trickles out, “What are you doing home? You’re early!” 

“Hey,” Wynonna grumbles as Waverly drops everything in her hands to tackle her, “You’re smooshin’ my titties.” 

Waverly huffs as she pulls away from the hug, but quickly recovers. Nicole watches silently as she gives her sister a harsh look before crossing her arms in front of her chest. She says, “What are you doing here?” 

“Mama got a call from good ole Aunt Auggie and we came rushing home,” Wynonna says, smirking fully, “You little rebel you.” 

“What?” Waverly says. 

“Heard you and Haughtstuff wanted to tie the knot and Gus almost had a heart attack,” Wynonna says, “Been yellin’ at each other since we got here.” 

“Oh god,” Waverly says, fully turning her attention to Nicole, “This is worse than I thought.” 

“What?” Nicole says, beyond confused now. 

“Now wait just a minute,” Wynonna chimes in, “If you think I’m just gonna let you steal my baby sister then you have another thing coming.” 

“Wynonna,” Waverly says sharply, tossing a warning glance over her shoulder at her sister. 

“She’s my daughter!” Comes from the other room, suddenly loud enough that it gets all of their attention. Wynonna even jumps over the back of the couch and creeps to the doorway, pulling Waverly along by the arm. Nicole really can’t help but follow. “And I think she should get to make her own choices! Or did you forget when our father wouldn’t let us do that?” 

“Now that’s not fair,” Gus starts. 

“He was always easier on you,” Michelle huffs, “Now, I don’t regret any of my girls but if I had gotten to make my own damn choices maybe you wouldn’t have had to raise them.” 

“Is this about Julian?” Gus asks. 

“Kind of,” Michelle says, “If Dad had let me go with him then maybe I could have been a better mother to my girls.” 

“Or you wouldn’t have them at all,” Gus says. 

“I’d have at least one of them,” Michelle replies. 

“So he came back for you, but he still left you the moment he found out about Waverly,” Gus retorts. 

“What?” Waverly says, looking between Nicole and Wynonna, “What does that mean?” 

“I don’t know,” Nicole says hushed. 

“I don’t know,” Wynonna says, rushed and quickly shushing them. 

“All I’m saying is,” Michelle says forcefully, “I resented our parents for a long time for not letting me just do what I want. I won’t have Waverly resenting us for the same thing.” 

“She’s just a kid,” Gus tries to reason. 

“Yeah, my kid,” Michelle reminds her, “Not yours. Not Ward’s. Mine. And I say we are going to support her in whatever she wants to do.” 

“You’re making a mistake,” Gus says. 

“It isn’t up to me,” Michelle replies, “She’ll be eighteen in a few months then she can do whatever she wants anyway. Might as well support her now rather than have her be mad at us.” 

The back door shuts shortly thereafter and three of them are left kind of confused by the details of the conversation, but the worry drains from Nicole’s veins. That is, until she looks over at Waverly and notes that she looks rather upset. Concern tugs at Nicole as she moves closer to Waverly, reaching over to envelope her into a loose hug. Waverly stands stiff, like she’s afraid to move. 

“What just happened?” Waverly murmurs, eyes wide and glazed over. 

“I’m gonna go talk to Mama,” Wynonna says. She shoots Nicole a look, one that seems to resonate deep inside of her soul telling that she has a job to do, a promise to uphold. It’s her job to take care of Waverly and she’s going to do everything she can. Nicole barely has a moment to blink before Wynonna is gone. 

“Why don’t we head upstairs, ok, baby?” Nicole says, hand sweeping across the expanse of Waverly’s back, “Take a shower and put our things away?” 

Waverly hesitates in her response, but let’s Nicole take the lead. Although she can hear a quiet conversation behind her, she doesn’t try to listen. She tries to take care of Waverly, pulling her up the stairs and leading her into the bathroom. 

“You’ll stay with me though, right?” Waverly asks, voice wavering. 

“Of course,” Nicole says, “Just let me get some clothes.” 

After getting some clean clothes, she returns to the bathroom where Waverly is sitting on the floor. She looks like she could burst into tears at any second and Nicole wishes she could make her stop. With her heart squeezing in her chest, she lowers herself to the ground beside Waverly and reaches for her. 

They sit there for a few minutes before Waverly’s tears actually fall. She manages to coax her into a warm shower, but afterwards Waverly crawls into bed. Wynonna delivering the results of her conversation with their mother only adds to it, so she stays there the rest of the day. All bundled up on her blankets. Occasionally crying. 


	22. Rebound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Waverly's bad news, but at least Michelle is...there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little delayed because I had a lot of family things happened. I've also been working on a Christmas fic and really didn't want to update this before I was finished, but I think it's time. Good luck. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know how you like it.

_April_

 

 

 

April truly does bring the showers.

Waverly spends all night crying until she throws up, leaving the bed many times throughout the night. Nicole’s sleep doesn’t fare well either, not with all of the up and down and the concern flowing through her. She feels so bad for Waverly, especially considering she didn’t get a second to enjoy her mom and sister’s homecoming before a bomb was dropped on her.

The alarm goes off at 6:45 sharp, as always. Nicole stirs slowly, body clearly disappointed to be moving. When she realizes there’s a small space between her and Waverly, her chest aches a little, which only increases as she blinks repeatedly until her brain deduces that Waverly’s back is also towards her. In all of their months of dating, this has never happened. It’s really a lot to take in.

Swallowing thickly, she moves closer to Waverly and curls up beside her. She lifts a hand to sweep Waverly’s hair away but a few strands stick to her face. Nicole wants nothing more than to take all of her pain away. She presses a soft kiss just below Waverly’s ear and it seems to make her wake a little.

“Morning, baby,” Nicole says just above a whisper. Waverly moves a little, her back now pressing into Nicole’s front. She settles a hand on Waverly’s hip, touching her lightly. “Feeling any better?”

“No,” Waverly croaks.

“I’m sorry,” Nicole says sympathetically. Before she’s even done speaking, Waverly has rolled further away from her. Blinking, her mind tries to register the distant behavior. Instead, she decides to get up and get ready for the school day. She tries to be considerate and only turns on the closet light, using it to light her options as she gets dressed. Once dressed, she makes her way back over to Waverly’s side of the bed. She kneels down in front of her and says, “You gonna get up and get ready?”

“I’m not going,” Waverly huffs. Nicole watches as she rolls over onto her back and stares up at the ceiling. The sun is just waking up and starting to rise, rays of its light beginning to peek in. She can’t help the sympathetic pout that graces her face. “I’m too sick.”

“Ok, well, if you stay home I’m gonna tell everyone that you’re pregnant,” Nicole teases.

Waverly doesn’t even blink. In fact, she barely shrugs. She says, “Do whatever you want.”

“Baby,” Nicole says, reaching out and lightly running her fingers along Waverly’s forehead to wipe the hairs away, “It’ll all be ok.”

“No it won’t,” she says, voice hollow and empty.

“Do you want me to stay home and take care of you?” Nicole asks.

“No,” Waverly says.

“So what do you want?” Nicole asks slowly, careful to keep her voice even and pleading.

“I want to be left alone,” Waverly mumbles.

“I don’t want to do that,” Nicole replies. She sighs softly and runs her fingers through Waverly’s hair. Although the room is still a bit dark, she can see Waverly’s eyes drifting closed. “Baby, let me help.”

“Just go to school,” Waverly says, eyes still closed.

“I’m worried about you,” Nicole says, “You haven’t eaten since before we got home yesterday.”

“I’m not hungry,” Waverly says.

“Ok,” Nicole sighs, dejected.

She stares at Waverly a bit longer before leaving the bedroom. Making a pit stop in the bathroom before she heads down the stairs, she checks herself in the mirror and notes the bags under her eyes. Once she’s downstairs, she checks the kitchen for something to eat. Finding pop tarts, she turns to see Gus entering the room and Nicole tries to smile but knows it isn’t really all that convincing.

“Where’s Waverly?” Gus asks.

“She’s sick,” Nicole replies. Holding the pop tart in one hand, she keeps looking for something to take upstairs to leave for Waverly. She finally settles on a banana before turning on her heel and trying to offer Gus a smile. She hasn’t found herself alone in the room with Gus or Curtis often since moving in, and Waverly usually saves her from the discomfort. But, truthfully, she’s a little frustrated with everyone for keeping this sort of thing from Waverly. “Have a good day.”

“Nicole,” Gus says, not unkindly, and it makes her pause, “Just...take care of her.”

Nicole manages a nod but doesn’t voice a reply before heading up the stairs. Returning to the bedroom, she notes that Waverly hasn’t moved yet. She puts the pop tart in her pocket and moves around the bed to set the banana on the nightstand.

“I brought you a banana,” Nicole says, “In case you get hungry.”

“Thanks,” Waverly replies, voice hoarse.

Nicole checks the time before sliding back into the bed, placing a hand against Waverly’s back and tracing patterns along her spine. After a few minutes of silence, Waverly rolls over to face her. Nicole feels her body shake as Waverly buries her face into her stomach, the hot tears soaking into her shirt. Waverly clings to her tightly as she cries, this time the tears a lot less aggressive than a few other times throughout the night.

“I love you, baby,” Nicole says, hand pressing into the small of Waverly’s back, “I promise I’ll never keep anything from you. All that I want is for you to be happy.”

“You’ll come back?” Waverly asks, fingers digging in to Nicole’s side.

“Always,” Nicole says. Waverly is quiet and her nails dig into Nicole’s ribs, grasping tighter as the silence engulfs them. Squirming slightly, she angles her body more towards Waverly. “Are you sure you don’t want me to stay home?”

“You can’t,” Waverly says.

She finally releases her hold on Nicole and moves up her body, hand tickling her stomach as she moves. Waverly’s cheeks are still wet, but the tears seem to have subsided for now. To Nicole’s surprise, Waverly pushes up and places a soft kiss to her lips. When she pulls away, Nicole sees she’s crying again.

“No, hey,” Nicole hums, “Don’t cry, baby. I hate this.”

“You should go,” Waverly says.

“I’ll text you, ok?” Nicole says.

Waverly barely nods in response as Nicole slips out from beneath her touch. Her heart aches as she watches her girlfriend immediately curl up into a ball under the blankets. With reluctance, she grabs her backpack and heads out of the house. Once in her car, she takes another look at Waverly’s bedroom window before driving to school.

All day long she feels like something is missing. People around her are capitalizing on April fools day and pulling pranks on each other. She’s asked many times where Waverly is and she just tells them that she’s sick, but everyone seems to think she’s joking at first. She doesn’t blame their disbelief. Waverly isn’t normally one to miss school. Nicole remembers hearing through the grapevine that Waverly was once shot with a tranquilizer and still made it to band practice.

It isn’t like her. That’s how Nicole knows this is a serious feeling. She truly doesn’t know what to expect when she gets home, or how long this might go on for. Even after exchanging a few texts with Waverly (‘Are you feeling any better?’ ‘No’), she’s still trying to figure out how to be there for her.

By the time lunch rolls around, she feels disconnected from everyone. She spends 15 minutes in her car, sending Waverly texts that go unanswered. After that, she goes back into the school building and meanders the hallways until she finds the classrooms for the classes Waverly has that she isn’t in. Thankfully, the teachers are in their rooms and she gets her homework.

After lunch is over, the day drags on. It’s an eye opener at how codependent she’s becoming on having Waverly around to feel more included about things. Without her there, Nicole almost dreads being there. She doesn’t really have any friends of her own. At lunch she usually sits with Waverly and her friends, sometimes Robin joins them, but he has his own friends considering his popularity status. He usually only hangs out with them when he’s tired of the bullshit, which is becoming increasingly more often.

When the final bell rings, Nicole can’t wait to get out of there. At least towards the end of the school day Waverly is more responsive to her texts. She even asks her to grab a few books from her locker before heading home.

She’s shoving a few of Waverly’s books into her bag when a shadow is cast over her. She looks up to see her coach standing there, not a particularly welcoming look on her face but not an angry one either. Nicole chances a smile, but Lucado’s features don’t change a bit.

“Do you have a minute?” Coach Lucado asks.

“Uh,” Nicole hesitates, zipping up her bag. She shuts her locker door and pulls her backpack strap up her shoulder. She checks her watch, seeing that school let out nearly 20 minutes ago and the halls are nearly empty. She sighs and says, “I guess.”

“Is everything ok, Nicole?” Her coach asks.

“Everything’s ok,” Nicole says, grinning. Except for the part where her girlfriend is sad and she can’t do anything about it. Her parents don’t want anything to do with her. And she doesn’t exactly now how to be an adult. Everything’s fine. “Good, even.”

“Just because the season is over doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me about things,” Coach Lucado replies.

“Ok, cool,” Nicole says, smiling again.

“Schools are telling me that you haven’t gotten back to them,” her coach dives right in.

“Uh, yeah,” Nicole admits, “Waverly and I are trying to figure out what’s best for us.”

“She’s been good for you,” Lucado says, “For a little while I was concerned about you.”

“Yeah, thanks for making me get a tutor,” Nicole says, smirking slightly, “Really worked out.”

“I see that,” Lucado says, “I know that you’re pretty excited about this thing with her, but I think you really need to at least talk to these recruiters. They seemed really interested.”

“It isn’t really that simple anymore,” Nicole says, looking down. When the school year started it was simple. Survive the school year, kick ass at basketball, get a scholarship and leave. She’s done all of that, but the leaving part isn’t just about her anymore. She’s going to have a wife. They just have to work it all out. “I have someone else to think about. I’m not going anywhere she doesn’t want to go or can’t go.”

“I want to help,” Lucado says, “Maybe we could all check out some of the schools together.”

“Yeah,” Nicole says, sighing in defeat. She’s 18 years old and already making all of the decisions for the rest of her life. Who she wants to spend it with. Where she’s going to college. What she’s going to study. Her phone vibrates in her pocket. “Can I think about it?”

“Hey,” Lucado says, catching her as she’s turning away with a hand on her arm, “The clock is ticking. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. Waverly wouldn’t want that for you.”

“I know,” Nicole says, “I’ll just...We’ll talk to you by the end of the week. Is that ok?”

“Yes,” her coach says, “Just, please, come talk to me.”

With a firm nod, Nicole bolts for the door. She’s pretty sure that her coach is watching her intently. She saw the concern there. Although she’s been holding it together pretty well, she hasn’t told many people the specifics of her personal life. Of course their classmates are aware by now that she’s living with Waverly and her family, but the teachers haven’t said anything on the matter. There have been times she’s wanted to talk to her coach, but she really doesn’t want to burden anyone else.

She makes it home in decent time and when she opens the front door, Waverly has at least transitioned from the bed to the couch downstairs. The sisters watch midday television, but Waverly doesn’t seem to be paying too much attention. It actually looks like she’s drifted off because she doesn’t even look over her shoulder when Nicole enters the house.

“Hey,” Nicole says quietly, hoping not to disturb her sleeping girlfriend. It doesn’t work, however, because Waverly quickly stirs at the sound of her greeting. Instead of running upstairs to deposit her backpack, she crosses to the couch and lightly touches the crown of Waverly’s head. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s ok,” Waverly says through a yawn. She stretches slowly and gives Nicole a sleepy smile. Her heart lurches into her throat at the sight, finally seeing the light creep back in. Waverly stands even slower and wraps her arms around Nicole’s neck, hands clasping together to keep her locked into place. “I missed you.”

“Awe,” Nicole hums, giving in and placing her hands on Waverly’s hips, “I missed you, too.”

“Ew,” Wynonna says from the couch, making a gagging noise.

“Shut up,” Waverly says, kicking a foot in Wynonna’s direction. Nicole audibly groans, slight annoyance of the entire day bubbling to the surface. The last thing she needs is to deal with Wynonna giving them a hard time. Waverly turns her attention back to Nicole and offers a smile. “How was today?”

“Lame,” Nicole says with a shrug, “What about you? Are you feeling better?”

Waverly nods and gives her a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I’m great, thanks,” Wynonna chimes in.

“Oh my god,” Waverly huffs, “Mind your business.”

“I’m literally in the room,” Wynonna says.

“I’m just going to take my bag upstairs,” Nicole says before things can escalate.

She slips from beneath Waverly’s hands and climbs the stairs to their bedroom, not even chancing a glance behind her. The weight of the day presses on her the instant that she enters the bedroom, exhaustion creeping up. Her mind is reeling with possibilities, the fact that after all of these years and keeping her coach at arms length she still wants to help. Nicole was never one to really talk about her problems. She mostly just acted out in hopes that someone would see her.

She sits on the edge of the bed and allows herself to get lost in thought. It wasn’t until she actually let someone in, told them her deepest and darkest thoughts or feelings, did she feel actually seen. After getting to know her, it’s no surprise that Waverly Earp of all people managed to crack the surface. She takes a quick look around the bedroom and notes how it looks so much like Waverly’s personality, with very small sprinkles of her own tossed in. Waverly has been extremely accommodating in sharing her space, but Nicole doesn’t really have all that many things to start with.

Arms feeling heavy, Nicole decides to lean back and rest on the bed. She still has her jacket and her shoes on, so she decides to give herself a breather, a moment of silence as she lets the down feather comforter engulf her. The bed is slightly less comfortable than the one she slept on for years at her parents house, but the extra padding is doing wonders for her spine.

She doesn’t know how long she stares at the ceiling before the bedroom door squeaks. The noise calls out to her, demands her attention, and when she looks over she sees Waverly closing the bedroom door. She looks tired, but a hell of a lot better than when Nicole left this morning.

“Hey,” Nicole says softly, “I asked all of your teachers about your assignments for today. I have them in my bag.”

Waverly doesn’t immediately reply, not verbally anyway. She crawls onto the bed and dips into Nicole’s side, arm immediately coming to a rest on her abdomen. Nicole lets her eyes drift closed as Waverly settles her forehead against hers, noses not quite touching but close.

“I’m sorry,” Waverly murmurs. At this, Nicole pulls back and looks her in the eye. Waverly practically looks near tears all over again and all Nicole wants to do is make all of her pain go away.

“No, hey,” Nicole says softly, moving enough to pull at Waverly’s leg and drape it over her thighs, “Don’t be sorry.”

“I should be,” Waverly huffs. Nicole lays still, letting Waverly tap at her stomach for a moment before she feels cold fingers slip between hers. Instinctively, Nicole helps her entwine their hands together and squeezes her thin fingers. Waverly lifts herself slowly and peers down at Nicole. Her eyes look sad again and it compels Nicole to lift her free hand to Waverly’s cheek. “I’m just really freaking out here, but I shouldn’t have pushed you away.”

“I just don’t want to see you hurting,” Nicole replies, “I want to be here for you like you’ve been here for me.”

“You’re gonna be a great wife,” Waverly says. Nicole drops her hand to the neck of Waverly’s t-shirt, tugging lightly on it. Waverly doesn’t move so she lifts up slowly, pressing a soft kiss against Waverly’s mouth. “When do you want to do it?”

“Right now,” Nicole says, “Is that an option?”

“I’ve been sick all day,” Waverly says with a pout.

“And I still love you,” Nicole says.

Waverly smiles softly and leans down, dropping a kiss to Nicole’s mouth. She pushes her hand through Waverly’s hair and clasps the back of her neck, pulling her in to deepen the kiss. As their tongues touch, the door opens with a whooshing sound that tears them apart like a knife slicing through bread.

“Ew,” Wynonna yells, promptly gagging.

“You’re in our room,” Waverly yells, “Get out!”

“Mama’s home,” Wynonna says, “Wants to talk to you.”

Waverly groans and Nicole lets her slip out of her grasp as she moves away. Both arms drop onto the bed with a loud thud and she watches as Waverly makes her way to the door. Wynonna grins widely and says, “Uh, she wants to talk to both of you.”

“Oh,” Waverly says.

“Ok,” Nicole says slowly.

Once she gets up, the three of them head down the stairs into a potential shit storm.

Waverly’s mother isn’t in the living room, but Wynonna doesn’t stick around. Without a word, she jingles the keys and dips out of the front door. The door shuts with a thud and it sounds an awful lot like the final nail in a coffin. When Nicole looks at Waverly, she sees that her jaw is tight like she’s prepared for a fight. Nicole tries to brace herself, knowing how an Earp fights. Her fights with Waverly have been hard.

She follows Waverly into the kitchen where she sees a woman of average height and blonde hair. As she turns to look at them, Nicole catches a glimpse of the woman’s familiar features. She’s never actually seen the woman before, but if she saw her on the street she would think she is Waverly and Wynonna’s mother.

“Waverly,” Michelle says, wiping her hands off on an apron, “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“Mama,” Waverly grounds out, voice harder than normal, “This is Nicole.”

For a moment, Nicole wonders how Waverly does that, makes her name sound all dreamy despite her anger seeping out through her cracks. She loves hard, but she angers harder. Nicole outwardly cringes at the tension before extending a hand.

“Nicole, this is-“

“Michelle,” Waverly’s mom interjects. They shake hands for a prolonged period of time like perhaps Michelle is sizing her up, but she really doesn’t feel like that’s the case. After a moment of too long a handshake, Waverly reaches out and takes Nicole by the shoulder. She feels herself being pulled more into Waverly’s side like she’s staking claim. “Sit down. We need to talk.”

Waverly huffs audibly as they both sit down at the table. Waverly moves her chair closer, almost doing everything she can to challenge her mother. Nicole’s eyebrows raise when she feels Waverly’s hand on her thigh and when she looks over, she catches Waverly staring her mother down despite her mother being all smiles.

“So?” Waverly says.

“Gus says you play basketball,” Michelle starts, looking at Nicole.

“Uh, yeah,” Nicole confirms with a nod. She glances at Waverly, wondering where this is all going. She’s feeling a little out on the spot.

“You two have a lot of big life changes coming up,” Michelle says, “I think we really all need to work out a plan on what you’re going to do.”

“Yeah,” Nicole says, releasing a rather large breath from her lungs as she nods. Waverly’s scowl loosens out of the corner of her eye, and her fingers squeeze at Nicole’s thigh quickly before its gone entirely. Looking from Waverly to Michelle, Nicole nearly crumbles beneath them. She swallows and says, “I think...that’s probably a good idea.”

Nicole feels her breath becoming short as the panic rises in her stomach, a swirling feeling coursing through her. She tries to steady herself, but she’s pretty sure her body is heating up so quickly that she can’t tell if she’s sweating. Both of the other women in the room are so silent that she finds herself panting under their gaze. After what feels like a full minute, she feels Waverly’s hand on her forearm.

“Baby,” she says softly, “What’s happening?”

“Nothing,” Nicole says quickly, her voice catching in her throat. Everything feels warm so she begins to shed her jacket off, letting it fall in the space between her back and the chair. Waverly’s prying eyes hone in on her, begging her to say something else. “It’s just really hot in here.”

After a few moments of silence, she feels Waverly’s fingers tap against her skin which brings her back into the moment. Only slightly though. She nods slowly and looks at Waverly, expelling a steadying breath.

“Did something happen?” Waverly asks.

“Coach Lucado,” Nicole starts, “She wants to talk to us about these schools showing their interest and I just...I need you there.”

“We’ll all go,” Michelle chimes in. Nicole’s gaze flits over to her, confusion taking her over her brain. She doesn’t understand what’s happening, what conversion is really going on right now. No one has really said anything substantial. “Look, I’m going to be real with you both. I know you want to get married, and that’s all well and good, but it isn’t fair to either of you to just figure it all out on your own. I want to help. I’m not going anywhere until you’re situated.”

“What?” Waverly says.

“There are a lot of things to figure out and we’re running out of time,” Michelle explains, “You graduate next month and I can’t have you out there struggling. Tell me what you’ve discussed.”

“Not much,” Nicole admits.

“Well,” Waverly starts. She sighs as she lifts both hands onto the table, entwining her fingers and pushing her weight against the tabletop. Nicole watches as some of the anger fades, the hostility no longer prominent in her features. “After Nicole’s parents kicked her out, we’ve just been trying to figure out how to make things work around here.”

“So you haven’t talked about anything?” Michelle asks, painting her face with patience.

“No,” Waverly says reluctantly. They look at each other and Nicole quickly looks down. She begins tracing the wood of the table with her eyes, unwilling to really speak. She feels...out of place. “I mean, we’ve talked a little bit about where we want to go to school and stuff, but I think we were just...scared to get our hopes up about everything.”

“So, where are you thinking?” Michelle asks.

Nicole looks up then, feeling the warmth of eyes on her. Slowly, she feels Waverly’s hand on her arm and a squeeze to her muscle before their fingers entwine together. Nicole says, “I’ve heard from recruiters for University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, University of Connecticut, and Georgetown. Or at least those are the few we’ve decided we want to, Uh...”

“Entertain,” Waverly finishes for her, “They’re pretty good schools and I think we could both get what we want out of any one of them.”

“And they’ll accommodate with housing?” Michelle asks, “I assume you’ll want to live together since you’ll be married by then. Right?”

“I mean, now that it’s out there, yeah,” Nicole says, “I would like to do it as soon as possible. Well, as soon as Waverly will have me.”

“I already have you,” Waverly says. Nicole catches her grinning out of the corner of her eye and can’t help looking over at her. Nicole sighs and rolls her eyes, squeezing Waverly’s hand anyway. “But I want to soon, too.”

“And when do we need to talk to your coach?” Michelle asks.

“Sometime this week,” Nicole answers.

“Let me know and I’ll be there,” Michelle says with a smile, “In the meantime, discuss the details for this wedding and I’ll help you figure it all out.”

“Really?” Waverly asks, perking up a bit.

“Absolutely,” Michelle says, the biggest grin on her face, “And, Waverly, would you mind helping me make dinner in about an hour?”

“Sure,” Waverly replies, seeming to almost forget entirely that she was ever angry.

With a parting smile from her mother, they make their way up the stairs. Nicole immediately tosses herself back onto the bed and remembers just how exhausted she is. Waverly immediately delves into homework while Nicole drifts off to sleep. She’s only woken up when dinner is ready.


End file.
